Assessment of the relationship between demographic variables and knowledge, attitude and practice of Azad Islamic University students about sexually transmitted diseases in 2018

Introduction: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are one of the health concerns of the new century and likelihood of morbidity in young people is high. Knowledge and attitude about these diseases and demographic characteristics of people have and important role in reduction of their incidence and prevalence. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the relationship between demographic variables and knowledge, attitude and practice of young people regarding STDs Material and methods: This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study, 500 students including were participated in 2018. Cluster random sampling was applied through the selection of various universities and colleges in 5 Azad units: North, South, East, West and Center of Tehran. Students were studying in art, human science, engineering, base science etc., majoring in B.A. and B.Sc. degrees. The data gathering tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. Its validity was confirmed by content and face validity. Reliability was assessed using the test-re-test method. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 software and descriptive and analytical statistical tests such as t test and ANOVA. Results: There was no significant relationship between students’ mean knowledge and gender (p = 0.434), but relationships of attitude and practice (risk and preventive) with gender (p < 0.001) and knowledge, and attitude (p < 0.001) with marital status were observed, female gender being associated with better attitude and practice and married women having better knowledge and attitude. The ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test and the least significant difference (LSD) test showed no significant difference between the students of Azad University and their field of study with their knowledge. Conclusions: Intervention in the study population was needed in order to increase awareness, change attitude and reduce risky behaviors and integrate education of sexually transmitted diseases in the academic curriculum. On the other hand, the establishment of valid websites, weblogs and valid channels in social media by medical universities is recommended because students reported Internet and social media as the most common way of getting information about STDs, with the focus on male students and single students, who need more education and attention. Students reported the Internet Address for correspondence: Ali Mehri, Department of Health Education and Health Promotion, Sabzevar university of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran, e-mail: hadimehri1386@gmail.com Article history: Received: 18.04.2020 Received in revised form: 26.11.2020 Accepted: 05.03.2021 Available online: 30.08.2021 ORIGINAL PAPER Tahereh Kamalikhah, Mehran Akbari, Maede Parhode, Leila Sabzmakan, Razieh Khosrorad, Ali Mehri 202 HIV & AIDS Review 2021/Volume 20/Number 3 sex workers [10]. Information from East Africa about knowledge of STDs amongst university students remains sketchy. In Cameroon 70% of the university students knew about STDs but only 16.1% could name the clinical features of common STDs. Generally sexual practice patterns among university students lags behind knowledge and attitude towards prevention of STDs and condom use [11]. In Iran about 30% of the population are 10-24 years old and most sexual negligence (55.6%) occurs between the ages of 16 and 21 years [12]. In a study on Iranian young single males, more than onefourth had a history of sexual contact. In another study conducted in Mashhad, showed a 15% prevalence of premarital sex in any time of university student life; 33% in males and 8% in females. On the other hand, a study by Farahani et al. showed a greater prevalence of some type of sexual relationship as 23% in female undergraduate students from universities of Tehran. In Iran, the actual prevalence of STIs is much higher than official data and the few recorded studies associated with sexual reproductive health of Iranian youth have indicated that the level of knowledge of reproductive health is low [13]. Iranian government policymakers are skeptical about providing reproductive and sexual health services to adolescents because the concept of adolescent reproductive and sexual health in Iran is new and controversial [14]. Worldwide, it is widely recognized that young people (people under the age of 25) are at greater risk of developing STIs. Studies have focused on the role of advice and education from reliable sources to prevent high-risk STIs in students [15] and also most knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) studies in university students focused on HIV/AIDS while other STIs have been neglected [16-18]. Since prevention of four STIS – AIDS, chlamydia, syphilis and human papillomavirus – is one of the national programs, and cognition of knowledge, attitude and practice and other related variables in society can help to better plan for control of these disease, this study was designed to investigate the relationship between demographic variables and knowledge, attitude and practice of Islamic Azad University students about these four diseases in Tehran. Material and methods This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 500 male and female students of Islamic Azad University of Tehran in May 2018. Azad University of Tehran has difas the most frequent way of acquiring knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases (28.8%) followed by social media (23.2%) and the lowest rate of information about sexually transmitted infections was radio followed by health care providers and professors. HIV AIDS Rev 2021; 20, 3: 201-207 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5114/hivar.2021.109558