HIV/STI Surveillance Research Center.
Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran.
Int Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2017 Jul 7;43(1):21-28. doi: 10.1363/43e3217.
Evidence on STI knowledge among Iranian nonmedical university students is limited. Information is needed to inform research and policies to improve the sexual health of university students in Iran.
A convenience sample of 742 male and female undergraduate and graduate students was recruited from five nonmedical public and private universities in Iran in 2014. Respondents' awareness of and knowledge about STIs were assessed using a validated questionnaire. Chi-square tests, student t tests and one-way analysis of variance were used to compare the percentage of respondents giving correct responses across subgroups of students.
Half of the respondents had ever heard of STIs, but most could not correctly identify STIs in a list of diseases. A total of 49%, 42% and 9% of the respondents had low, moderate and high STI knowledge scores, respectively. Respondents reported online sources (62%) and friends (32%) as their main sources of information about STIs, and those who were older, ever-married or more educated were more knowledgeable than other respondents.
Given that the Internet was students' main source of information, increasing the accessibility and visibility of credible Internet sites about sexual health is warranted. Also, key individuals in students' networks (e.g., parents, teachers, peers) should be equipped with required training and knowledge on STI-related topics and be actively involved in sexual health education efforts.
伊朗非医学专业大学生的性传播感染（STI）知识有限。需要相关信息来为研究和政策提供依据，以改善伊朗大学生的性健康。
2014 年，从伊朗五所公立和私立非医科大学中，采用方便抽样法招募了 742 名男女本科生和研究生。使用经过验证的问卷评估了受访者对 STIs 的认识和了解程度。采用卡方检验、学生 t 检验和单因素方差分析比较了不同学生亚组中答对问题的受访者比例。
一半的受访者听说过 STIs，但大多数人无法从一系列疾病中正确识别 STIs。受访者的 STI 知识得分分别为低（49%）、中（42%）和高（9%）。受访者报告称，网络（62%）和朋友（32%）是他们获取 STIs 信息的主要来源，年龄较大、已婚或受过更高教育的受访者比其他受访者更有知识。
鉴于互联网是学生的主要信息来源，增加可信的性健康网站的可及性和可见性是必要的。此外，学生网络中的关键人物（如父母、教师、同龄人）应接受有关 STI 相关主题的培训和知识，并积极参与性健康教育工作。
