School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Med Princ Pract. 2010;19(4):312-8. doi: 10.1159/000312719. Epub 2010 May 26.
The aim of this study was to assess the patients' knowledge and awareness of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
A face-to-face interview was conducted among the patients visiting the Venereal Diseases Outpatient Department of the General Hospital of Pulau Pinang (Malaysia). A 19-item questionnaire was used. A total of 116 patients participated in the study and 107 patients had valid responses. The reliability and internal consistency of the questionnaire tool was estimated on the basis of Cronbach's alpha (= 0.81). The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 13.0(R)) was used for data analysis. Student's t test and analysis of variance were used to analyse the knowledge differences among the groups.
Of the 107 patients, 82 (76.6%) were diagnosed with syphilis; AIDS was the most commonly known STI among the patients. Of the 107 patients, 35 were sexually active and of these 23 (65.7%) had more than 1 sexual partner. The most popular source of knowledge was newspapers (51 patients, 47.7%), with hospitals (3 patients, 2.8%) being the least popular one. Overall mean score on knowledge questions was 12.21 out of the maximum of 33 points. Knowledge about causative organisms, risk groups, transmission, symptoms, prevention and treatment of STIs was inadequate. The knowledge level was significantly related to gender (p = 0.03), religion (p = 0.005), educational level (p = 0.000), marital status (p = 0.000) and income level (p = 0.036).
This study demonstrated evidence of poor knowledge of STIs amongst the patients attending an STI service in the General Hospital of Pulau Pinang (Malaysia). Hence there is an immediate need for efforts towards improving patient knowledge of STIs.
本研究旨在评估患者对性传播感染（STI）的知识和意识。
对马来西亚槟榔屿总医院性病门诊部的患者进行面对面访谈。使用了一份 19 项的问卷。共有 116 名患者参加了这项研究，其中 107 名患者的回答有效。根据 Cronbach's alpha（=0.81）评估问卷工具的可靠性和内部一致性。使用社会科学统计软件包（SPSS 13.0(R)）进行数据分析。使用学生 t 检验和方差分析来分析组间知识差异。
在 107 名患者中，82 名（76.6%）被诊断患有梅毒；艾滋病是患者最常知道的性传播感染。在 107 名患者中，有 35 名处于活跃的性行为中，其中 23 名（65.7%）有一个以上的性伴侣。最受欢迎的知识来源是报纸（51 名患者，占 47.7%），而医院（3 名患者，占 2.8%）是最不受欢迎的来源。在知识问题上的总平均分是 33 分中的 12.21 分。对 STI 的致病生物、高危人群、传播途径、症状、预防和治疗的知识不足。知识水平与性别（p=0.03）、宗教（p=0.005）、教育程度（p=0.000）、婚姻状况（p=0.000）和收入水平（p=0.036）显著相关。
本研究表明，在马来西亚槟榔屿总医院性传播感染服务中，患者对性传播感染的知识水平较低。因此，需要立即努力提高患者对性传播感染的认识。
