Abstract

Background: Adolescent girls are less likely than older women to access sexual and reproductive health care. Information about knowledge and attitude is essential to better understand the dynamics of the STI epidemic and to plan preventive measures.

Objective: To assess the knowledge and attitude of pre-university adolescent girls regarding STDs/HIV.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among pre-university adolescent girls in Mysore city between June 2013 and November 2013. The sample size of 1500 was selected from the total population of 4155 using Proportional Stratified Sampling technique. Direct interview method was used to collect the information using a pretested, semi-structured questionnaire after taking consent from the students.

Result: Of all, 1425 (95%) of the study subjects had never discussed any sexual health-related matter with their fathers and similarly 1279 (85.32%) had not discussed with their mothers. A total of 1012 (67.46%) believed that girls should remain virgin until marriage and 1411 (94.06%) students had heard of HIV/AIDS but only 613 (40.86%) knew the abbreviation of AIDS. Among all, 931 (62.06%) students knew that HIV is incurable, and only 623 (41.53%) knew that there was a simple test to diagnose HIV. Although 646 (43.06%) students knew that there are other STI’s apart from HIV, very few knew about its signs and symptoms. 102 (6.80%) study subjects had a misconception that hugging and kissing an infected person transmits HIV. 10% girls had a misconception that using oral pills and avoiding social interaction with HIV-infected people would prevent the transmission. For many 1129 (75.26%) study subjects, the source of information regarding HIV was from mass media. 1171 (78.71%) subjects felt that there should be classes on reproductive and sexual health in schools and colleges.

Conclusion: There is a substantial lacuna in the knowledge and perception of the girls regarding sexual health. A lot of myths and misconceptions are prevailing among the girls in the core areas such as condom use, HIV transmission, and prevention.

Key words: Adolescents, sexual health, HIV, STIs