Sexual health knowledge and influencing factors among health science students at a state university in Turkey

Abstract

Objectives

It is important to determine the sexual health knowledge and educational needs of university health science students, as they need this knowledge in both their personal and professional lives. We aimed to determine the sexual health knowledge and affecting factors of health science students in Turkey.

Methods

A descriptive study was carried out among students at a university faculty of health sciences in Ankara province, Turkey. Data were collected using a student information form and the Sexual Health Knowledge Test (SHKT).

Results

The study comprised 738 participants. Students’ mean SHKT score was moderate (25.13 ± 5.28; range 0–40). The lowest correct response rates in the SHKT were to questions on sexually transmitted infections (45.6%) and safe sexual behaviour (53.5%). Students’ main sources of information on sexual health were the internet (72%) and friends (40.9%). The most important factors affecting SHKT scores were having graduated from a health-education high school (eta² = 0.035); having a working mother (eta² = 0.023); getting sexual health information from the internet (eta² = 0.019), from friends (eta² = 0.018) or from school/teachers (eta² = 0.015); having friends of the opposite sex for emotional and/or social support (eta² = 0.010); and being female (eta² = 0.008).

Conclusion

The results indicate the importance of educating young people and their parents about sexual health. We recommend that the sexual health educational needs of university students in health sciences should not be overlooked; these students have similar needs to those of students in other fields.

土耳其某州立大学卫生科学专业学生性健康知识及影响因素调查 摘要

目标：确定大学卫生科学专业学生的性健康知识和教育需求很重要, 因为他们在个人和专业生活中都需要这种知识。我们旨在确定土耳其卫生科学专业学生的性健康知识和影响因素。

方法：在土耳其安卡拉省一所大学的卫生科学系学生中进行描述性研究。采用学生信息表和性健康知识测验( SHKT )收集数据。

结果：这项研究共有738名参与者。学生平均SHKT评分适中(25.13±5.28 ;range 0-40)。SHKT的最低正确率问题是性传播疾病问题(45.6%)和安全性行为问题(53.5%)。学生性健康的主要信息来源是互联网(72%)和朋友(40.9%)。影响SHKT成绩的最重要因素是从健康教育高中毕业(eta²=0.035)；有工作母亲(eta²=0.023)；从互联网(eta²=0.019)、朋友(eta²=0.018)或学校/教师(eta²=.015)获取性健康信息；有异性朋友进行情感和/或社会支持(eta²=0.010)；性别为女性(eta²=0.008)。

结论：研究结果揭示了教育青少年及其父母性健康的重要性。我们建议不应忽视卫生科学专业大学生的性健康教育需求；这些学生与其他领域的学生有着相似的需求。

Keywords:

• Sexual health
• sexual health knowledge
• sexuality
• students
• Turkey

Acknowledgement

The authors thank all students who took part in the study.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.