Knowledge level and behaviors of family health workers working in primary care regarding sexually transmitted infections

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) include various clinical syndromes that can be caused by many pathogens following sexual intercourse. The pathogens causing STDs can be transmitted through mucosal sites such as vagina, skin, oropharynx, penis and rectum. This study was conducted to examine the level of knowledge and behaviors of family health workers (FHWs) working in family health centers (FHCs) in Denizli city center about STDs. The population of our study consisted of family health workers working in FHCs in Denizli city center. According to the list obtained from the Ministry of Health Denizli Provincial Health Directorate, a total of 193 FHCs were working in 67 FHCs in the center of Denizli during the study period. In this study, 90,1% (n=174) FHCs were reached. A 43-question questionnaire form was used as a data collection tool. A total of 174 people were included in the study group and 99,4% (n=173) of them were female. The mean age of the FHWs was 41.62 ± 6.01 years. When FHWs were asked how they evaluated their knowledge about STDs, 51,7% of the FHWs stated that they had sufficient knowledge and 45,4% stated that they had average knowledge. FHWs stated that they received information about STDs most frequently from pre-graduation education and courses they attended. 65,5% of the FHWs stated that they provided counseling about STDs. There was no statistically significant correlation between the status of FHWs counseling patients about STDs and the variables of age, graduated school, place where they spent most of their lives and years of working in the profession. While the FHWs stated that they knew blood and sexual transmission routes of STDs more frequently, they knew oral and anal transmission routes less frequently. Condoms and monogamy were found to be the best STD prevention methods known by the majority of FHWs.