Researching the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of Suleyman Demirel University Faculty of Medicine term 1 students about sexually transmitted diseases and increasing their awareness

The aim of this study is to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of first term students of Süleyman Demirel University Faculty of Medicine about STDs and to increase their awareness about this issue. This cross-sectional and survey study included data from 224 first term students of Süleyman Demirel University Faculty of Medicine. The research was conducted using face-to-face and online survey forms. The 'Sociodemographic Information Form' and 'Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)/HIV' survey forms prepared by the researcher were used as data collection tools. The data were evaluated with statistical analyses in SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) 29.0 program. In the evaluation of two-level variables, T test was used when the data were normally distributed; in the cases where the data were not normally distributed, Mann-Whitney U test was used. In the evaluation of three-level variables, ANOVA test was used when the data were normally distributed; Kruskal Wallis-H test was used in cases where it was not suitable for normal distribution. The significance level was accepted as p<0.05. 53.1% of the participants were female (n=119) and 46.9% (n=105) were male. The average age was 18.80±1.19. The lowest score that the participants in the study received from the STD is 2.00, and the highest score is 35.00. The mean and standard deviation score of the research group for this scale was calculated as 24.31±7.61. According to the research findings, the total STD score was significantly higher in alcohol users, those who had sexual intercourse before, those who considered themselves knowledgeable about STDs, those who advocated premarital sexual experience, those who preferred to use condoms during sexual intercourse, those who stated that they would tell their partners if they had a sexually transmitted disease, and those who thought that the HPV vaccine should be free (p<0.05). In addition, the scores of individuals whose fathers were civil servants or workers-tradesmen-freelancers etc. were statistically higher than those whose fathers were not working/retired (p<0.05). Seminars, conferences, symposiums, etc. should be organized in universities about STDs and counseling services should be provided about safe sexual health. Students should be provided with these services. Keywords: Infectious diseases, Sexuality, Young adults, Medical school