KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES AMONG THE STUDENTS OF SELECTED MADRASHAS OF DHAKA CITY

Abstract BackgroundSexually transmitted diseases have become a silent epidemic that devastates the life of both men and women. In Bangladesh, there has been no national prevalence data on Sexually transmitted diseases. Aims & objectivesThe objectives of the study were to find out the level of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases among madrasha students. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in four purposively selected madrashas in Dhaka city. A total randomly selected 390 students of class 9 and 10 were included in this study. A semi structured questionnaire was used to collect data and the responses of students were recorded after obtaining verbal consent. ResultsMean age of the respondents was 17 and 33.1% of them were from Science group. 54% respondents had average knowledge, 29.5% had good knowledge. Television/radio was the main source of information for majority (68.6%) of the students and around 40% was informed about STDs from their academic study. About 75% of the respondents mentioned that there was microorganism for all STDs as causative agents. More than 70% respondents mentioned that unprotected sexual intercourse and using same syringes with different persons were the mood of transmission of STDs. Condom as the main protector of STDs was seemed by the most. Type of madrasha and academic group were significantly related (P<0.00) with level of knowledge on STDs. ConclusionScience group respondents had more academic knowledge than the arts group respondents and respondents who belonged to late adolescent group had more knowledge than early adolescent group.