Study on HIV/AIDS knowledge, sexual attitudes, sexual behaviors, and preventive services among young students in Chongqing, China

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study aimed to describe the HIV/AIDS knowledge, sexual attitudes, and sexual behaviors of young students (14–25 years) in Chongqing, China, and to examine their use of preventive services and related factors.MethodA cross-sectional study was conducted with students from 67 schools from December 2019 to June 2021. The chi-square test, non-parametric test to assess the differences between respondents with different characteristics in the above aspects. Additionally, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine factors associated with the awareness of HIV/AIDS knowledge. Confidence intervals without crossover or P < 0.05 was considered significant.ResultsA total of 31,782 participants were included in the study. A total of 62.62% of the respondents were considered to be aware of basic HIV/AIDS knowledge, including 78.44%, 62.15%, and 52.08% in undergraduate colleges, junior colleges and secondary vocational schools, respectively. In total, 60.96% of males and 29.42% of females accepted premarital sex, 15.49% of males and 6.18% of females reported being sexually experienced, and only 57.18% of the students used condoms every time they had sex. The percentage of condom use among students who were aware of HIV/AIDS knowledge was higher than that among students who were not aware. A total of 85.60% of the students thought they needed HIV/AIDS prevention and control knowledge, and 94.60% thought more health education activities on HIV/AIDS prevention needed to be conducted in schools. Entrance education, lectures or consultation hotlines, WeChat official accounts and other media platforms were rated as the most acceptable HIV/AIDS prevention education methods.ConclusionThese respondents lacked knowledge about HIV/AIDS, and an increasing number of students show an open attitude toward premarital sex and engage in risky sexual behaviors. It is urgent to enhance and widely disseminate comprehensive HIV/AIDS and sexual health education in multiple formats.

Sexual behaviors and the association between sexual knowledge, attitude and behaviors among Chinese university students: a moderated mediation model

“…According to Becker's health belief model, people's knowledge and attitude toward a health-related problem might correlate with their future behavior [25]. In terms of sexual topics, we found that students with higher sexual knowledge scores and AIDS knowledge scores were linked with more sex reports, as well as delayed age of rst sexual behavior and increased probability of taking contraceptive measures in the univariate analysis, which was in congruence with prior studies 4,9 . A survey from 130 colleges in China reported that those with higher knowledge had a later age of rst sex (β = 0.28, p < 0.001) and were less likely to have unprotected sex in most sexual behaviors (OR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.69 ~ 0.96) [10].…”

“…For more speci c sexual behavior characteristics, 18.1% of 332 respondents experienced their rst sexual life before 18 years old. The proportion of rst sexual behavior at ages lower than 18 years old varied from 10-35% in China [9][10][11]. Additionally, 30.4% of respondents with sexual life reported never taking contraceptive measures in any sexual activity.…”

“…Moreover, the age of sexual debut is declining in China. Qing et al reported that 34.9% of students began their rst sexual life before age 18, which is higher than the results of a national survey of 130 schools in 2015 (23.8%) [9,10]. Regarding contraceptive use, however, Chinese university students seemed to overlook its signi cance.…”

Factors Associated with Commercial Sex Behavior among Male College Students Who Engaged in Temporary Heterosexual Behavior in Zhejiang Province, China

“…However, the proportion of the commercial sex behavior group that insisted on using condoms each time during sex was only 26.8%. Studies have shown that the lack of conver-sion from knowledge to preventive measures in condom use among male college students is serious, and complex unsafe sexual behaviors increase the difficulty of intervention [33][34][35]. Therefore, to educate college students on HIV/ AIDS prevention, it is necessary to emphasize that the individual is the first person responsible for their own health.…”

Factors associated with risk sexual behaviors among sexually active college students in Sichuan, China: a cross- sectional survey

“…Consequently, understanding the prevalence of risky sexual behaviours and its associated factors of young people is necessary to monitor the evolution changes of HIV epidemic. Several studies have reported sexual knowledge, attitude and behaviours among this vulnerable age group (14,18,(20)(21)(22)(23). For example, a study with respondents from 3 provinces in China showed 18.2% of males initiated sex before age of 18 (23), and a study consisting of 1602 individuals reported inconsistent condom use was associated with grades, sexual orientation, monthly expenditure, etc.…”