RESEARCH ARTICLE
Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Towards Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Women of Reproductive Age in an Urban Community Health Centre in Indonesia
Hariyono Winarto1, *, #
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2023Volume: 16
E-location ID: e187494452301050
Publisher ID: e187494452301050
DOI: 10.2174/18749445-v16-e230111-2022-182
Article History:
Received Date: 6/10/2022Revision Received Date: 9/12/2022
Acceptance Date: 13/12/2022
Electronic publication date: 22/02/2023
Collection year: 2023

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Introduction:
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), an emerging public health burden, are increasing due to a lack of understanding about their prevention.
Objective:
To understand the association between STI-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among women of reproductive age in an urban community health centre in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Material and Methods:
A cross-sectional study and consecutive sampling technique were employed on 50 women using a structured, self-administered questionnaire. All data were analysed using Spearman’s rank correlation, χ2, or Fisher’s exact test to test the hypothesis.
Results:
Encountered women had an average age of 26.80 ± 4.64 years, were married (74%), primiparous (46%), and with a high level of education (88%). The median scores for attitude and knowledge were 76.90 and 79.20, respectively, and there was a moderate correlation between these scores (ρ=0.482, p<0.001). Overall, 84% of individuals had good knowledge, and 88% of respondents had a positive attitude. Practical insight was moderate, with the rate of abstinence, using condoms, suggesting condoms, and stigmatising persons with HIV/AIDS being 54%, 32%, 2%, and 36%, respectively. Education level was a significant predictor of knowledge, and women’s attitudes toward STIs were associated with their knowledge (OR 7.80, p=0.044). There was no relationship between socio-demographic profiles and the KAP of STIs. Knowledge and attitude did not contribute significantly towards abstinence, using condoms, suggesting condoms, and HIV/AIDS-related stigmatisation due to the complexity of practice actualisation related to theories of planned behaviour.
Conclusion:
STI-related knowledge and attitude correlate well, but this study found that neither predicts STI-related practice.