Prevenção de infecções sexualmente transmissíveis no contexto universitário

Abstract

The accelerated growth of diseases transmitted through sexual intercourse has challenged health systems around the world, as they represent a serious public health problem. There has been a considerable increase in cases of such diseases among young people aged between 15 and 29 years during the last decade, in Brazil. Since university students are part of this age group, the general objective of this work was to verify, among undergraduate students at the Federal University of Espírito Santo – campus de Alegre – the knowledge they have, as well as their practices and behaviors regarding Sexually Transmitted Infections. This information would support the development of an intervention project to be implemented in the institution, aimed at preventing these infections. The research was approved by the UFES Research Ethics Committee under registration 3.949.086. The theoretical approach of this work analyzed the Public Health management and policies on sexually transmitted infections, with emphasis on the current epidemiological scenario, as well as Health Education as one of the possible strategies to face the problem. Concerning methodology, a qualitative and quantitative approach was employed. An online questionnaire was provided to undergraduate students from the institution, to collect the required data. There was a return of 285 complete questionnaires and the data analysis was performed with the use of descriptive statistics, whose results were organized in graphs and tables. Those results showed that, although the analyzed public demonstrated good knowledge of the ways in which transmission and prevention of sexually transmitted infections can happen, this does not translate into actions of self-protection and self-care, since the students show risky behaviors, such as the use of psychoactive substances and the lack of prevention practices, such as the use of condoms. Moreover, these students show a low perception of the risks resulted from such behaviors, which makes them even more vulnerable to the STIs. Based on those results, as a technical / technological product, this work developed an intervention project called "Get to know", aimed at the prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections. The project will be delivered to University management.