Knowledge and Attitudes of Undergraduate University Students about Sexual Transmitted Diseases at University of Kufa

Hasan, Saif Musadaq; Khudair, Fatima Wanas

doi:10.29322/ijsrp.9.08.2019.p92122

Cited by 1 publication

(4 citation statements)

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“…In this study, knowledge about STIs was not affected by gender. This is similar to several studies ( 9 , 20 , 24 , 25 ), but differs from two studies in which women had higher knowledge ( 11 , 18 ). Knowing someone who has been infected with an STI was more critical to increase knowledge than having a previous sexual experience.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…The current study revealed that overall knowledge was moderate to high, with around three-quarters of respondents answering more than half the questions correctly; this is higher than the overall knowledge reported in other studies from Kufa in south Iraq ( 18 ), Iran ( 9 ), and Saudi Arabia ( 11 ) and comparable to results from Malaysia ( 20 , 24 ). In this study, knowledge about STIs was not affected by gender.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 74%

“…To be included in the final sample, respondents had to fulfill 2 criteria; be enrolled as an undergraduate in a Baghdad-based university during the academic year of 2021/2022 (assigned as criteria 1) and be enrolled in a discipline not related to medicine or medical technology (assigned as criteria 2). This was judged as a necessary step, as previous studies have demonstrated an obvious difference between non-medical and medical college students ( 11 , 18 , 20 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Becker's health belief model, people's knowledge and attitude toward a health-related problem might correlate with their future behavior ( 7 ); this, in turn, means that studies which assess these indices can be useful during the development and implementation of public health campaigns and education programs in a way that is suitable to the needs of the local environment. Many studies of this nature have been performed in countries that are culturally similar to Iraq; like Iran ( 8 , 9 ), Saudi Arabia ( 10 , 11 ), and Turkey ( 12 – 14 ), while in Iraq only few articles have been published; mainly focusing on AIDS/HIV or a specific point related to STIs rather than the subject as a whole ( 15 – 18 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Assessing knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward sexually transmitted infections among Baghdad undergraduate students for research-guided sexual health education

Al-Gburi

Al-Shakarchi

Al-Dabagh

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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BackgroundSexually transmitted infections are common and tend to cause a lot of public misconceptions. This study was conducted to identify knowledge gaps and negative attitudes toward sexually transmitted infections and infected individuals among undergraduate students and give recommendations accordingly for the development of more objective research-guided health campaigns and school sex education programs.MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted between May 17, 2022 and June 2, 2022 using a self-administrated questionnaire containing 84 items related to sexually transmitted infections distributed online to Baghdad-based university students.ResultThe sample consisted of 823 respondents; 332 men and 491 women. Overall knowledge was moderate to high, with 628 individuals (76.3%) answering more than half the questions correctly. There was no difference according to gender or previous sexual experience, but knowledge increased by an average of 2.73 points (p < 0.001) when a participant knew a previously infected individual. Less than half identified systemic symptoms of STIs, and their knowledge of other HIV items was also poor. Most respondents (85.5%) agreed to the need for sex education during middle or high school and cited traditional barriers as the most critical barrier (64.8%); in comparison, those who did not agree on its need cited the sensitivity of the subject (40.3%) or religious barriers (20.2%) as more important.ConclusionSpecific knowledge gaps exist for HIV and non-HIV sexually transmitted infections; these should be addressed during sex education, focusing on specific high-risk groups. Negative attitudes and stigmatizing behavior should be addressed as well by increasing focused STI knowledge.

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