A survey of health literacy in sexually transmitted diseases and its association with sexual behaviors among students of vocational schools in 7^th health region, Thailand

Objective: To analyze the level of health literacy regarding prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and studied the relationship between the health literacy and sexual experience of Vocational students in health region 7, Thailand. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using questionnaires. The questionnaires consisted of questions on health literacy and sexual experiences. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and inferential statistics, including chi-square tests to analyze the relationship between health literacy and sexual experiences. Results: The present study participants comprised of 364 vocational students, 220 (60.4%) male students, and 144 (39.6%) female students. Almost half of the male students (47.3%) had sexual relationship by the age of 15.8 years (SD 1.7), 98.1% of them had their first sexual relationship with their girlfriends, and 81.7% used condoms. Meanwhile, 31.3% of the female students had sexual relationship by the age of 15.7 years (SD 1.3), all of them had first sexual relationship with their boyfriends, and 88.9% used condoms. Most students had low health literacy level, which included 79.5% of the male students and 62.5% of female students. There was significant relationship between sexual experience and health literacy in STD prevention in both male and female students (p<0.05). Conclusion: The present study found that the health literacy in the prevention of STDs was low among the participants. Therefore, education and health care sector should be aware of the situation and jointly develop health education programs in the prevention of STDs for the vocational students and teenagers.