بررسی آگاهی و رفتارهای بهداشتی زنان متاهل در مورد بیماری های منتقله از طریق جنسی و روش های پیشگیری از آن

Background and purpose: Today sexually transmitted diseases (STD) are the most common infectious disease in the Ünited States infecting 13 million new cases annually. Çonsidering their wide distribution and complications, knowledge about STD transmission, common symptoms and treatment methods are important in their prevention. Hence this study was undertaken to investigate the knowledge and health behaviour of married women about transmission of STD. Materials and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted by simple sampling and standard questionnaire on 200 married women being referrd to the health service clinics of babol town ship. Questionnaire comprised of demographic, knowledge and performance questions about the reasons of not using condom and regular STD check up. Knowledge and performance were scored using likert scale. X2 and analysis of variation were used for determination of correlation between variables. Results: The mean age of participants was 28.8 years. 72.5% of the individuls in case group did not have good knowledge. The most familiar STD disease was HÏV (88.5%), and the least were genital wart (40%) and chlamdia (28.5%). The most improper answers were about the ways of transmission, complications and methods of prevention. 60.5% of the cases did not have good practice about the prevention of STD. Ïn other words only 18.5% of women used them as part of pregnancy prevention. 23% of women had regular referring to STD clinics for check up. Level of knowledge showed significant correlation with age, level of education, profession of couples,number of family members,method of prevention and level of performance. Çonclusion: Despite high prevalence rate of STD in the society, knowledge and practice of women about STD and their prevention methods are weak. Ëstablishment of STD clinics to meet the need of screening, treatment, health education and concepts related to STD is recommended. Ât the same time education should include public and also health workers.