Awareness, Knowledge and Risky Behaviors of Sexually Transmitted Diseases among Young People in Greece

Chrysa Voyiatzaki, Maria S. Venetikou, Effie Papageorgiou, Fragiski Anthouli-Anagnostopoulou, Panagiotis Simitzis, Dimitrios I. Chaniotis and Maria Adamopoulou
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Chrysa Voyiatzaki: Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Maria S. Venetikou: Laboratory of Anatomy-Pathological Anatomy & Physiology Nutrition, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Effie Papageorgiou: Reliability and Quality Control in Laboratory Hematology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Fragiski Anthouli-Anagnostopoulou: Laboratory of Anatomy-Pathological Anatomy & Physiology Nutrition, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Panagiotis Simitzis: Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Dimitrios I. Chaniotis: Laboratory of Anatomy-Pathological Anatomy & Physiology Nutrition, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Maria Adamopoulou: Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Health and Care Sciences, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-14

Abstract: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) affect mainly young individuals and cause health, social, and economic problems worldwide. The present study used a web questionnaire to assess the awareness, knowledge, sexual behaviors, and common practices regarding STDs in young Greek adults. The 1833 individuals, aged 18–30 years, who responded to the study seem to be particularly knowledgeable regarding STDs such as AIDS (97.7%), warts (97%), Chlamydia (92.2%), genital herpes (89.9%), syphilis (81.9%), and gonorrhea (72.1%), whereas lower percentages were noted for trichomoniasis (39.3%), Molluscum contagiosum (12.9%), mycoplasmosis (11.6%), and amoebiasis (7.4%). Regarding oral STD transmission, participants replied correctly for genital herpes (45%), warts (35.8%), and AIDS (HIV; 33.8%), whereas 30.2% were unfamiliar with oral sexual transmission. Of the participants, 52% were not aware that STDs might cause infertility. Only 40.4% of the respondents reported always using condoms during sexual intercourse, and 48.6% had never been tested for STDs. The majority of the young population (55%) presented a moderate knowledge STD score (41–60%) and was associated with demographic parameters such as age, gender, sexual preference, number of sexual partners, and residence ( p < 0.05). These findings provide important information regarding the prevention of STDs and highlight the significance of developing more effective sex education programs for young people in Greece.

Keywords: sexually transmitted diseases; awareness; knowledge score; Greek young adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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