TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge and attitude on sexually transmitted infections and contraceptive use among university students in Bhutan
AU - Dorji, Thinley
AU - Wangmo, Karma
AU - Tshering, Dendup
AU - Tashi, Ugyen
AU - Wangdi, Kinley
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to all the participants and the college authorities for helping in the distribution of the online questionnaires.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Dorji et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - OBJECTIVES: The unmet needs of contraception can lead to unintended pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the contraception use, knowledge, and attitude on STI among students under Royan University of Bhutan (RUB).METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed in Google forms and the link was shared through the college WeChat groups. The questionnaire consisted of four parts on socio-demographic, sexual behaviour and contraceptive use, knowledge, and attitude on STIs. All the students under RUB were invited to participate voluntarily in this study. The socio-demography was presented in frequency and proportion.RESULT: A total of 1,283 students participated in this survey and 55.0% (701) were females. Of this, 29.4% (377) were sexually active and 94.4% reported using modern contraception. Commonly used contraceptives were: condoms (83.8%, 316) and emergency contraceptives (20.6%, 78), respectively. The mean knowledge and attitude scores on STI were 9.94 (range 2-20) and 12 (range 2-14), respectively. Good knowledge and attitude on STI were reported in 53.2% (683) and 70.1% (899) of participants.CONCLUSION: Students reported average knowledge and a good attitude towards STI. Contraceptive use among university students was low. There is a need to strengthen health education on STIs in schools and universities. All forms of contraceptives especially condoms should be made easily available to sexually active people.
AB - OBJECTIVES: The unmet needs of contraception can lead to unintended pregnancy and transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STI). Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the contraception use, knowledge, and attitude on STI among students under Royan University of Bhutan (RUB).METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed in Google forms and the link was shared through the college WeChat groups. The questionnaire consisted of four parts on socio-demographic, sexual behaviour and contraceptive use, knowledge, and attitude on STIs. All the students under RUB were invited to participate voluntarily in this study. The socio-demography was presented in frequency and proportion.RESULT: A total of 1,283 students participated in this survey and 55.0% (701) were females. Of this, 29.4% (377) were sexually active and 94.4% reported using modern contraception. Commonly used contraceptives were: condoms (83.8%, 316) and emergency contraceptives (20.6%, 78), respectively. The mean knowledge and attitude scores on STI were 9.94 (range 2-20) and 12 (range 2-14), respectively. Good knowledge and attitude on STI were reported in 53.2% (683) and 70.1% (899) of participants.CONCLUSION: Students reported average knowledge and a good attitude towards STI. Contraceptive use among university students was low. There is a need to strengthen health education on STIs in schools and universities. All forms of contraceptives especially condoms should be made easily available to sexually active people.
KW - Bhutan
KW - Contraceptive Agents
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Female
KW - Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Pregnancy
KW - Sexual Behavior
KW - Sexually Transmitted Diseases/epidemiology
KW - Students
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
KW - Universities
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135596443&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0272507
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0272507
M3 - Article
C2 - 35921369
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 17
SP - 1
EP - 14
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 8 August
M1 - e0272507
ER -
