HEALTH LITERACY AND SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS (STI’S) AMONG UNIVERSITY OF GHANA FEMALE STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

The motivation to study the influences of health literacy and sexually transmitted infections emanates from the fact that there is a high rate of infection of STIs and an associated death toll globally. The study, a cross-sectional design, in the University of Ghana employed quantitative methods using a survey approach to sample views from female students from various academic levels and across the humanities and Science disciplines. The study found that female students had appreciable knowledge in the causes and prevention of STIs but exhibited less knowledge on symptoms and type of STIs. Abstinence was noted as the commonest mode of prevention and only 2.3% of female students have had an STI before, reflecting prevalence rates in the Africa region. Ninety percent of female students showed Adequate functional health literacy. There was no significant variation, however, of health literacy level with respect to educational level, suggesting a lack of variation in the academic level of students. Correlational analysis showed a weak association between Health literacy and attitudes towards STI but suggested that high literacy level led to a healthy attitude toward STI and sexual health. Other results are that students used different treatment avenues such as hospitals, clinics and herbalists to treat STIs. A recommendation is to develop knowledge about STIs among the female students by raising awareness and building capacity of the students. Further research should sample participants from very distinct educational strata and factor in culture to determine the role it plays in attitudes towards STIs given education and health literacy levels.