Integrative Counseling could Enhance Knowledge and Attitudes of Women Sex Workers about Sexually Transmitted Infections

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are preventable and treatable diseases. Female sex workers are more susceptible to contracting STIs. Successful prevention of STIs will not be achieved without community involvement and patient compliance in implementing prevention programs. AIM: The study aimed to analyze the effect of integrative counseling on knowledge and attitudes about STIs. METHODS: This type of research is a quasi-experiment with a pre-post test two-group design. The population was female sexual workers (FSW) at the Mawar PKBI clinic in Bandung City. The number of samples per group was 28 people. The sampling technique was the purposive sampling technique. The knowledge and attitude instruments used a questionnaire. Differences in knowledge and attitudes pre and post-test in the treatment and control groups used the dependent t-test. The effect of integrative counseling on knowledge and attitudes was used in the independent t-test. RESULTS: This study showed that the intervention group’s mean ability before and after integrative counseling increased higher than the control group. The statistical test results showed that the value of p = 0.000, meaning that at 5% alpha, there was a significant difference in the mean knowledge between the intervention group and the control group. p <α (0.05), so statistically, there is a significant effect of integrative counseling on knowledge about STIs. The mean of attitudes before and after integrative counseling in the intervention group increased more than in the control group. The statistical test results showed that the value of p = 0.000, meaning that at 5% alpha, there was a significant difference in the average attitude between the intervention and control groups. p < α (0.05), so statistically, integrative counseling significantly affects attitudes about STIs. CONCLUSION: Suggestions for the Mawar Clinic PKBI, Bandung City, West Java, and Indonesia can facilitate counseling to FSW using modules so that knowledge and attitudes can be increased so that they can improve STI prevention behavior.