Knowledge, Information Needs and Risk Perception about HIV and Sexually Transmitted Diseases after an Education Intervention on Italian High School and University Students

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Federico Banchelli¹  Andrea Tinelli²  Pierfrancesco Grima³  Antonella Zizza⁴  Virginia Recchia⁴  Marcello Guido⁵ 

[1] Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41125 Modena, Italy;Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, “Veris delli Ponti” Hospital, Scorrano, 73020 Lecce, Italy;Infectious Diseases Operative Unit, Vito Fazzi Hospital, 73100 Lecce, Italy;Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, 73100 Lecce, Italy;Laboratory of Hygiene, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy;

关键词: sexually transmitted diseases;    HIV;    education;    knowledge;    risk;    prevention and control;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph18042069

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among adolescents and young people represent a significant public health problem that generates a pressing requirement of effective evidence-based education to promote primary and secondary prevention. The objective of the study is to evaluate how knowledge, information needs, and risk perception about HIV and STDs can change after targeted education interventions for students. A total of 436 subjects aged 15–24 attending high school (134 biomedical and 96 non-biomedical fields) and university courses (104 scientific and 102 non-scientific disciplines) were enrolled to respond to a questionnaire before and after the intervention. An improvement in knowledge was found in all groups, with statistically significant knowledge score differences between the four groups in 60% of the items. More than 94% of the students consider it useful to promote information on these issues. Receiving this information generated awareness and safety in more than 85% of high-school students and 93% of University students. Students widely perceived a great risk being infected with HIV/STDs, although pregnancy was seen as a more hazardous consequence of unprotected sex. This study shows that educational interventions are effective in improving knowledge, apart from findings about key knowledge topics, information needs, and risk perception, which provide significant insights to design future targeted education programs.

【 授权许可】

Unknown