Knowledge and Attitude of Senior High School Students in Jatinangor towards Sexually Transmitted Infections in 2013

Abstract

Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are major health problem. Until today, the prevalence of STIs is still high and the incidence is increasing. Almost half of STIs new cases occur in adolescents and young adults. It is assumed that there is a positive correlation of knowledge about STIs with attitude and practices; therefore, giving proper information of STIs to adolescents could influence their safe sexual practices, and further, it can prevent STIs to occur. The objective of this study is to discover knowledge and attitude of senior high school students in Jatinangor towards STIs. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in Sekolah Menengah Atas Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia (SMA PGRI) Jatinangor and Sekolah Menengah Atas Negeri (SMAN) Jatinangor from May to September 2013. Questionnaires were completed by 278 respondents selected by stratified cluster random sampling. Results: More than half respondents had poor knowledge about STIs (56.5%) while 53.2% of the respondents had positive attitude towards STIs. Most mentioned choices as the information source of STIs were teacher (66.5%), followed by television/radio (45.3%), friends (37.8%), newspaper/magazine (21.2%), mother (16.2%), sibling (7.2%), and father (6.5%). Conclusions:More detail information about STIs is needed by adolescents as a way to encourage safe sexual practices. Teacher and parents are expected to be the source information of STIs while mass media can also be used to educate adolescents. Education on STIs for teachers is also needed since they are as the main source for educating the adolescents. [AMJ.2015;2(4):

Knowledge of safe sex and sexually transmitted infections among high school students, Vientiane Prefecture, Lao PDR

“…Positively, almost all participants knew to get an STI/HIV test before starting a new sexual relationship. Nevertheless, similar to other studies in the region, in Vietnam [23] and Indonesia [1], while students had some knowledge about STIs, misconceptions about causation and symptoms were evident. While respondents in grades 11 and 12 reported significantly less knowledge about STIs than those in grade 10, this may reflect improvements over time in education and information programmes about STIs.…”

“…Adolescents with higher levels of knowledge about sexual health are more likely to have protected sex, reducing the risk of STIs and unplanned pregnancies [ 1 , 2 , 25 – 27 ]. Most students in this study had good knowledge about safe sex, particularly that the correct and consistent use of condoms can reduce the risk of most STIs including HIV and unintended pregnancies.…”

“…The outcome variables of this study for both levels of knowledge for safe sex and STIs were classified into two categories (low knowledge and good knowledge) and the mean was used as an indicator to categorise knowledge levels. Hence, good knowledge ≥ mean and poor knowledge < mean [1,23,24].…”

“…They were given one point for correct answers and zero points for 'Don't Know' or 'Unsure' and incorrect answers. This gave a total score for knowledge of safe sex and STI questions with a normal distribution, so the mean was used as an indicator to categorise levels of knowledge, good knowledge > mean and poor knowledge ≤ mean [1,23,24].…”

“…Knowledge of safe sex and STIs is vitally important for adolescents who need to be imbued with a comprehensive awareness of how to avoid unsafe sex, STIs, and teenage pregnancies [1]. During the adolescent period, teenagers are at a high risk from a number of negative health consequences associated with early and unsafe sexual activities, including STIs and unintended pregnancies [2].…”