UNIVERSITY-STUDENTS KNOWLEDGE OF STDS - LABELS, SYMPTOMS AND TRANSMISSION

A sample of 630 Victorian university students, aged between 17 and 24, completed a questionnaire on knowledge of sexually transmitted diseas es (STDs). Overall students demonstrated moderate levels of knowledge about the names of diseases which are transmitted by sexual contact, s ymptoms and medical facts and transmission modes of common STDs. Howev er, they had more knowledge about the labels than they did about sympt oms and transmission modes and were misinformed about certain clinical aspects of STDs. It was found that the different levels of knowledge varied with the type of STD. Knowledge about symptoms or transmission did not correlate with a disease's incidence or clinical aspects. Sexu al experience and having an Australian born mother correlated with hig her scores. This study suggests that young people do not have high lev els of knowledge about common STDs they may encounter. Identification of a label is of Limited personal value if there is no concurrent know ledge about disease transmission and prognosis.