Knowledges, attitudes and behaviors related to sexually transmitted diseases of male undergraduate students from three faculties of Chiang Mai University

Abstract

Objectives To study differences in knowledge, risky behavior and attitudes related to sexually transmitted diseases in male undergraduate students from three faculties of Chiang Mai University. Methods This cross-sectional study surveyed 652 male undergraduate students from three faculties including 85 from Associated Medical Science (AMS), 480 from Engineering (ENG) and 87 from Economics (ECON) as representative of health sciences, science/technology, and social sciences/humanities, respectively. An online questionnaire was used to evaluate the students’ knowledge, risky behavior and attitudes related to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Descriptive statistics included one-way ANOVA and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Results AMS male students had a higher average score for knowledge related to STDS than the other groups. There were, however, significant differences among AMS students to the questions, “Should parents teach appropriate sex education to their young children?” and “Do you think early STD screening is good?” (both p = 0.001). Positive correlations were found between self-reported alcohol drinking and visiting of entertainment places in all the groups (rAMS = 0.673, p < 0.001; rENG = 0.595, p < 0.001; rECON= 0.595, p < 0.001). Self-reported risky behavior was positively correlated with frequency of having sex during the past 2 months and alcoholic drinking (rAMS = 0.510 and = 0.409; rENG = 0.562 and = 0.345; rECON = 0.655 and = 0.259, respectively. All were p < 0.001) Conclusions Male health sciences students possessed higher knowledge, reported lower risk behaviors, and expressed more positive attitudes toward individuals with STDs than the other groups. Providing knowledge about STDs and encouraging abstinence from alcohol should be used to reduce the incidence of risky behavior and the incidence of STDs among male university undergraduates.