Attitude and level of knowledge of university students from two
different faculties on sexually transmitted diseases and family planning
S.S. Ozalp, H.M. Tanir, A.Yildirim, H. Ilgin
Eskisehir Osmangazi University School of
Medicine, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Eskisehir, Turkey
Objective
The aim of this study was to evaluate attitude and level of knowledge of the
students from faculty of medicine and engineering about sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs) and family planning (FP), and, if needed, to support training
and education including with educational materials in order to confer a high
level of awareness, regarding those two above-mentioned health issues.
Design and Methods A total number of 72 students from 2nd. class medical
faculty and 136 students from faculty of engineering were included into the
study. A questionnaire, composed of 18 questions regarding STDs and FP was
conducted.
Results Mean age of all participants was 20.3±1.6 years. In both
groups, source of knowledge about FP methods was mostly newspapers and
television. Sexually active students comprised 32.2% of all students. Most of
the students (98.6%) were aware of HIV/AIDS. The least known STD was gonorrhea
(12.5%). Medical students were more aware of gonorrhea, compared to other group
(22.2% vs7.4%, p<0.01). Of all students, 48.1% thought that coitus interruptus (CI) was an effective modern contraceptive method. Oral contraceptive was the most known method among two groups (93.8%) Medical students were more knowledgeable than engineering students, regarding the oral contraceptives (p<0.05), diaphragm (p<0.001), tubal ligation (p<0.05).
Conclusions Medical students were more knowledgeable than students of
engineering on family planning and STDs, as expected. Despite the prevalence of
HIV/AIDS in Turkey is limited, the knowledge related to this infection is very
high, which is the result of mass media influence. A striking finding of this
study was the high percentage of participants who declared that CI was an
efficient way of contraception. Hence, every effort should be made to augment
and strengthen educational level of university students on STDs and modern FP
methods.