Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Medhanealem Preparatory School Students About Gonorrhea Infection
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2020-07-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Neisseria gonorrhea is a bacterium responsible for one of the classic sexually transmitted infection (STI), gonorrhea. Antibiotic resistant N. gonorrhea is emerging at an alarming rate in many parts of the world, especially in developing countries. In Africa, the prevalence of the disease in STI suspected patients ranges from 2.7 to 8.2 % in various target groups. Up to 17.7 % gonorrhea prevalence was also detected among anti-retroviral treatment (ART) attendees. This study was done to assess the knowledge, attitude, risky behaviors and practices related to gonorrhea among preparatory students in Addis Ababa. A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among a total of 410 participants (179 male; 231 female) aged between 16 and 22 years using self-administrated questionnaires during May 2019. The Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22 was used for statistical description and analysis and results were presented in numbers and percentages. Less than half of the respondents know about STDs, till there are misconception and their practice remained quit low. Most of the respondents did not know the sign, symptoms and treatments of STDs. whereas students knew the risk factors for STDs, they had a high degree of risk taking sexual behavior. Majority of the student‟s attitude towards gonorrhea was also found to be negative. All the demographic variables such as gender, age group, grade level, father‟s educational level, father‟s occupation, family income and family size were not associated with student‟s risky behaviors and preventive practices. Knowledge and attitude of student‟s towards gonorrhea infection had significant influence p-value on their risky behavior and preventive practices on sexually transmitted disease. A higher level acceptable sexual practices was observed among students with good knowledge level compared to students with poor knowledge level (62.9% vs. 43.1%; AOR = 2.12 95% CI = 1.42–3.18). Students with positive attitude had 1.66 times higher odds of having acceptable sexual behavior compared to students who has negative attitude (AOR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.11–2.48). Knowledge on STDs is still lacking and risky behaviors have been practiced. Although there were low level of knowledge and attitude among them but their practice on sexuality is high. There is a need to revisit the existing STDs education curriculum so that appropriate intervention on STDs can be implemented.
Description
Keywords
Sexually-Transmitted Diseases, Preparatory Students, Knowledge, Attitude, Sexual Behavior