Abstract

ARIAS CASTILLO, Liliana et al. KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES RELATED TO SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS IN COLLEGE STUDENTS. Univ. Salud [online]. 2010, vol.12, n.1, pp.43-49. ISSN 0124-7107.

Objective: To identify the university students’ knowledge and practices about the sexual transmitted diseases. Method: To identify the needs in Sexual and Reproductive Health in the students from two different faculties in the public university Valle del Cauca a descriptive study was done from October 2008 to December 2009. The sample was voluntary for coexistence and a population sample of 1.120 students was obtained (error 45%, reliability 99, 9%). A survey was conducted for the information gathering which was answered in an auto-conscious way in an electronic format. For the analysis, the statistic packet Epi Info 6th version was used and the Chi squared test was employed to identify the statistical significance (p< 0.05). Results: 1.120 students were studied (62% women) most of them from a low socioeconomic level (strata 1, 2 and 3) with an average age of 20. The median age for beginning to have sexual relationships was 16. (rank 7-30). The 50,1% of the students referred their first coitus at the end of adolescence. The 42, 3 % had between 2 and 5 sexual partners. According to the studied population, the more risky sexual behaviors are anal penetration and oral sex. In this respect, 39% of the surveyed men think that anal penetration is the most pleasant sexual activity, in contrast to women who presented a 9%. Regarding oral sex, 82% of men and 80.3% of women said it was one of the most satisfying sexual activities. Conclusions: Despite the fact that the surveyed students are in a higher level of education, they do risky sexual practices which can expose themselves to sexually transmitted diseases with the consistent consequences in their personal and couple life.

Keywords : Sexually transmitted diseases; sexual practices.

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