Knowledge Levels of Vocational High School Students About Substance Addiction and Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Abstract

Introduction: This study was carried out to determine the knowledge levels of vocational high school students about substance addiction and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Materials and Methods: 20691 students from 22 vocational high schools were included in this study, and it was conducted with a total of 1929 students selected with stratified sampling. The data obtained in this study was collected using a questionnaire form. Results: The mean age of the students was 16.58±1.17, of which 54.1% were male, and 57.4% were high school 9-10th grade. It was determined that most of the students (95.9%) lived with their families and 25.2% of them came with migration. 95.5% of the students stated that they had information about the health hazards of cigarettes, alcohol and other substances. While 60.9% of students stated knowing HIV/AIDS, 55.7% hepatitis B and 45.2% hepatitis C from STDs, 70.1% stated not knowing genital wart, 76.3% gonorrhea, 76.7% syphilis, 86.7% chlamydia, and 87.6% trichomonas. More than half of students stated knowing that STDs have symptoms like vaginal discharge odor (56%), inguinal pain (52.8%), itch (52.1%), and wart and blister (54.3%) in sexual organs. It was determined that more than half of the students do not know complications of STDs, and 41.5% of students stated that condom usage in every intercourse was necessary. 68.8% of the students did not receive any education about STD. Conclusions: It was determined that the vocational high school students did not have enough information about STD and substance abuse and peer-based education were planned for the students.