Knowledge and Attitude of Couples about to get married toward Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Abstract Background: Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are among the most important health issues in the world. Negative attitudes and lack of knowledge are among the main reasons for the spread of these diseases. The aim of this study is to examine the knowledge and attitude of couples regarding STDs. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted from December 2017 to June 2018. Participants were 393 couples about to get married referring to pre-marriage counseling center in Qazvin, Iran. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire including questions about knowledge and attitude about STDs and demographic characteristics. Data were analyzed using multivariable linear regression via stepwise method. Results: The average age of participants was 25.77 ± 6.69 years and 52.7% were females. The knowledge and attitude mean (SD) scores about STDS were 5.86 (4.70) and 91.68 (9.88), respectively. Participants had the highest information about hepatitis and the lowest information regarding human papillomavirus and chlamydia. Age was the only significant independent predictor of knowledge toward STDs (β= 0.13, 95%CI:[0.11; 0.17]). Age (β= 0.13, 95%CI:[0.11; 0.17]), gender (Male vs. Female)(β= -0.14, 95%CI:[-4.85;-0.64]) and educational status (academic vs. diploma) (β=0.18, 95%CI:[ 1.28; 5.74]) were the significant independent predictors of attitude toward STDs. Moreover, knowledge was an important predictor of attitude (β= 0.41 in crude model and β=0.36 after adjusting for demographic variables).Conclusion: The results of this study showed that young couples referring to pre-marriage counseling center have low knowledge and average attitude toward STDs. Therefore, it is recommended that proper workshops be conducted about STDs in order to increase the couples’ knowledge (especially in the case of human papillomavirus and chlamydia)