KNOWLEDGE LEVEL OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ABOUT SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES

Introduction: Sexually transmitted diseases are among the most frequent infectious diseases in the world and have negative effects on sexual health/reproduction. To prevent these diseases, the period of youth when sexual activity and health routines begin to take shape is important in terms of determining the lack of knowledge relevant to this the issue and compensating it. Objective: This study was conducted as a descriptive means of determining the knowledge level of university freshmen about sexually transmitted diseases. Method: The study population has been consist of first-year student at the departments of sciences and social science at Marmara University, Campus of Goztepe, and 888 student among them, who agreed to participate in research, constituted the sample of the study. The survey was conducted between May 1 and April 30, 2006. Data was collected through a questionnaire including 45 questions prepared by the researchers. Findings: 52% of the students were female and 43% were male, and the mean age was 20.39 +/- 1.94. It was confirmed that the students have received information about sexually transmitted diseases via books, newspapers, magazines (79.3%), radio/television (61.6%), education in schools (19.3%), and the health care personnel (15.2%). When the adequacy of the education was questioned, only 16% of the students were found to have inadequate education about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs). When the symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases were questioned, the answer were "vaginal urethral discharge" (55%), "warts/wound/ulcer in the genital region"(48.1%), "may be asymptomatic" (28.9%), and "abdominal pain, fewer, fatigue"(15.7%). A total of 66.1% of the students stated that they want to be informed at university about sexually transmitted diseases. Result: It was ascertained that the education provided to the university students about Sexually Transmitted Diseases is not sufficient and most of the students also want to be given education about STDs during their university education. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.