Prevention of sexually transmitted infections among young people and the importance of health education

Abstract

Objective: To analyze sexual practices and the adoption of prevention practices for sexually transmitted infections among university students. Method: A descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative study, carried out in a public higher education institution, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro. A sample of 173 students from the Nutrition, Medicine, Nursing and Biological Sciences courses was selected from the matrix research database. Results: There was predominance of young women (76.88%), aged between 18 and 23 years old (84.39%), sexually active (78.03%), who did not use condoms continuously with stable (47.22%) and casual (30.36%) partners; the majority negotiated condom use (37.78%); never performed a test to detect HIV (56.07%) and denied previous occurrence of STIs (91.33%). Conclusion: The low adherence of young people to condoms with stable and casual partners is a risky sexual behavior that can contribute to acquiring STIs. Expansion of the provision of timely testing and intensification of educational activities in the university environment are necessary practices to reduce the group's vulnerability to STIs.