Knowledge about sexually transmitted infections among young men presenting to the Brazilian Army, 2016: A STROBE-compliant national survey-based cross-sectional observational study

Abstract

Global burden of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) remains high and has a profound impact on health and lives of children, adolescents and adults worldwide. For over a decade, the Brazilian Department of Chronic Condition Diseases and Sexually Transmitted Infections and the Ministry of Defense have been conducting the Conscripts Survey aiming to assess the STI prevalence and obtain data on knowledge regarding STIs and risk factors among youth.A cross-sectional study was conducted among conscripts across Brazil aged 17 to 22 years from August to December 2016. It included a self-reported questionnaire containing 74 questions, 25 questions related to awareness and knowledge of STIs and their associated symptoms, routes of transmission, complications and risk factors.A total of 37,282 young men across Brazil were considered for the analysis. The majority resided in the Northeast and Southeast regions (38.9% and 30.0%, respectively), followed by the South (13.9%), North (9.7%), and Central-west (7.5%) regions. Of the conscripts, 97.2% have the knowledge they may be at risk if they do not use condoms during sex. Conscripts with a higher level of education have almost 2 times greater chance of having knowledge of having sex without a condom (OR 3.23 CI95% 2.82-3.70 P = .000) and sharing needles and syringes (OR 2.84 CI95% 2.62-3.07 P = .000) represents a risk. Those with higher education also have an almost 50% greater chance of having knowledge regarding STI transmission from mother to child (OR 1.54 CI95% 1.44-1.64 P = .000), and knowledge of no transmission by mosquito bite (OR 1.61 CI95%1.51-1.72 P = .000), by kissing (OR 1.45 CI95% 1.36-1.55 P = .000) or by using public toilets (OR 1.51 CI95% 1.41-1.61 P = .000). Television (71.8%) and internet (69.4%) are the preferred forms to obtain STIs information regardless of the level of education.Conscripts with higher level of education have greater knowledge regarding transmission of STIs. However, there are gaps regarding their knowledge about HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis and the fact that other STIs can increase the chances of acquiring HIV.