KNOWLEDGE AND PREVENTIVE PRACTICES OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS AMONG STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITY OF BENIN

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to investigate knowledge and preventive practices of sexually transmitted infections among students in University of Benin. The study sought to determine the knowledge level of sexually transmitted infections among students in university of Benin, the preventive practices of sexually transmitted infections among students in university of Benin.

Descriptive survey research design was adopted to accomplish the objectives of the study. The population of the study consists of all fourty four thousand, six hundred and ninety nine (44,699) undergraduates from fourteen (14) faculties in university of Benin and the sample size of 300 accessible Student was used for the study. The instrument for data collection was the questionnaire developed by the researcher and was validated by the researcher’s supervisor and two other experts from the Department of Health, Safety and Environmental Education. The reliability coefficient was 0.92 was obtained using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation Co-efficient (PPMCC). The data collected were analyzed statistically using the statistical package of social sciences (SPSS) software.

The study revealed that the knowledge of sexually transmitted infections among undergraduate in university of Benin is low and that the level of preventive practice of sexually transmitted infections among undergraduate in university of Benin is low. The study recommend therefore recommend that Sex education should be incorporated in tertiary school curriculum as a core course; with this, students will get to have in-depth knowledge on sexually transmitted infections which will go a long way to curb the rate of STIs. And that Media should throw more light on STIs such as chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea etc., rather than emphasizing on HIV/AIDS only.