Students’ awareness of the student health center’s sexual health services at a southeast public university

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether university students are aware of the sexual health services offered by the student health center. Participants: 522 undergraduate students at a southeast public university. Methods: Students were given a list of 19 sexual health services and tests and were instructed that for each one to check “offered,” “not offered,” or “I'm not sure.” Results: Students were generally unaware that the health center offered testing for a variety of sexually transmitted infections (13-27.4% aware), the Gardasil vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) (15.5% aware), the IUD (8.8% aware), emergency contraception (18.6% aware), and breast (24.9% aware) and pelvic examinations (16.5% aware). The only exceptions were for free male condoms (63% aware) and women's awareness of birth control pills (55.3% aware) and pregnancy testing (50.3% aware). Nearly half the students were not aware that parents/guardians could not obtain health center medical records without the student's permission. Conclusions: Student health centers cannot be effective in reducing unwanted pregnancies and the spread of STIs if students are unaware of the services provided. Health centers must do a better job of educating students.