AWARENESS AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS PREVENTION OF SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS AMONG UNDERGRADUATES IN ACHIEVERS UNIVERSITY, OWO, ONDO STATE

This research examines the awareness and attitude toward the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) among undergraduates at Achievers University Owo, Ondo State. The research work deals with sources of information and health education as parameters to be measured in relation to Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among undergraduates at Achievers University Owo, Ondo state. The researcher collected information using a self-structured questionnaire titled "Awareness and Attitude Towards Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections" and a simple random technique was used to distribute it. v A descriptive cross-sectional design was used for the study and Taro Yamane formula for population determination was used to select 391 respondents for the study. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect data for the study. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 28 into frequency and simple percentages. Ethical approval was obtained as required. Findings from the study revealed that the majority of the respondents (84.4%) have a positive attitude toward the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections. Almost all of the respondents (90.8%) have a good level of awareness. Major factors indicated by the respondents to influence the attitude towards prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections: socio-cultural beliefs (87%), inadequate information on sexually transmitted infections (92%), age group (89.3%), poor parenting (93.6%), poverty (84.4%). Others include poor sexual behavior (91.8%) and sexual assault (88.5%). Findings from the study revealed that year of study (p=0.19398), college of respondents (p=0.10279), and gender (p=0.52708) were not significantly associated with awareness and attitude towards prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections. In Conclusion, from the findings, it is concluded that the majority of the respondents had good knowledge and positive attitudes toward the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections. This can be attributed to the fact that the majority of the respondents had up to the secondary level of education and access to their health conditions and information from the doctors and nurses. This result may differ if conducted among a more rural population with less information about their health status.