Awareness and predictors of knowledge about sexually transmitted diseases among early adolescents in koforidua, ghana: a mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND

This study explores the awareness and predictors of knowledge regarding sexually transmitted diseases among early adolescents (ages 11-15) in the Koforidua Municipality.

METHODS

The study was designed as convergent parallel mixed-methods research hinged on an analytical cross-sectional and descriptive phenomenological design. In all, 373 adolescents were surveyed, obtaining varied insights across different demographic groups, with an additional 10 interviews conducted for qualitative analysis. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multilevel logistic regression, while the qualitative data were thematically analyzed.

RESULTS

Two-thirds (67.3%) of early adolescents reported awareness of STDs. 134(53.4%) out of the 251 early adolescents who were aware of STDs opted to test for them. HIV (M = 1.33, SD = 0.699), and Gonorrhea (M = 1.55, SD = 0.827) were the most commonly recognized infections but misconceptions about Syphilis (M = 1.94, SD = 0.929), Chlamydia (M = 2.49, SD = 0.778), Genital wart (M = 2.35, SD = 0.854) and Hepatitis (M = 2.36, SD = 0.755) as types of STDs were dominant. Early adolescents in Junior High School -JHS1 (AOR 0.307 (95.0% CI 0.111-0.847 p = 0.023), JHS 2 (AOR 0.201 (95.0% CI 0.070-0.579 p = 0.003), JHS 3 (AOR 0.134 (95.0% CI 0.043-0.414 p = 0.00) were less likely to know STDs compared to those in primary six. Early adolescents who had never dated (AOR 0.705 (95.0% CI 0.423-1.173 p = 0.014) were also less likely to know about STDs compared to those who had ever dated.

CONCLUSION

The findings highlight the need for the Ghana Education Service to integrate comprehensive sexual health education into primary and junior high school curricula to improve STD knowledge among early adolescents.