Evaluation of knowledge and attitudes of young individuals about premarital screening programs

Objective: It was aimed to evaluate the relationship between the sociodemographic characteristics of young individuals about the premarital screening program and their knowledge and attitudes about the premarital screening program.Materials and Methods: In our cross-sectional, descriptive study, individuals over the age of 18 and under the age of 40 who applied to Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University Training and Research Hospital polyclinics between 01.10.2022 and 31.12.2022 were included. An evaluation form created by the researchers by scanning the relevant literature on sociodemographic information and premarital screening programs was applied to the participants. Results: There were 157 female participants (64.3%) and 87 male participants (35.7%) in the study. It was determined that the high level of knowledge on premarital screening programs affected the attitude positively (p<0.05). The attitude score towards premarital screening programs was found to be higher in women than in men (p<0.05). The negative attitude score of those with high school education was found to be higher than those with a university education (p<0.05). It was observed that those with university-level education had higher knowledge scores than those with primary school education. (p<0.05). Knowledge score of those with high income level was higher than those with low income level (p<0.05). It has been determined that those who are civil servants in terms of profession have higher knowledge points than those who are workers. (p<0.05). People living in the city center had higher attitude scores than those living in villages or towns (p<0.05). It was observed that those who had heard of the premarital screening program had higher knowledge and attitude scores than those who had not heard of it (p<0.05). Conclusion: As a result of the study, it was determined that the attitudes of the participants were positively affected as the knowledge level of the participants about premarital screening programs increased. In addition, it was observed that those with university-level education had higher knowledge scores than those with primary school education. The society should be informed about premarital screening programs for healthier future generations.Keywords : Family Medicine, Premarital screening program, attitude