{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T13:43:31Z","timestamp":1790948611586,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,8]],"date-time":"2017-02-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1486512000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study was done to assess the knowledge, attitudes, risky behaviors and preventive practices related to sexually-transmitted diseases (STDs) among health and non-health sciences university students as future healthcare providers in Malaysia. A total of 700 health and non-health sciences university students (255 male; 445 female) aged between 17 and 30 years were surveyed by using a self-administered questionnaire. The majority (86.6%) had heard of STDs, and 50.4% knew STDs could present without symptoms. HIV remains the best known STD (83.6%) by the students, while chlamydia (26%) and trichomoniasis (21.0%) were rarely known. Gender, age group, educational level and faculty type were strongly associated with knowledge level (p-values &lt; 0.05). Most of them (88.8%) were aware that STD screening was important while use of condoms was protective (63.8%). The majority of them strongly felt that treatment should be sought immediately if they (85.5%) and their partners (87.4%) have symptoms. Among the sexually-active students, 66.7% and 18% had sexual intercourse with multiple partners and commercial sex workers, while 17.4% and 9.4% took alcohol and drugs before having sex, respectively. By logistic regression analysis, students aged 24\u201330 years old (an odds ratio (AOR) = 0.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.377\u20130.859) and faculty type (AOR = 5.69, 95% CI = 4.019\u20138.057) were the significant predictors for the knowledge level. Knowledge on the non-HIV causes of STDs is still lacking, and the risky behavior practiced by the sexually-active students in this study is alarming. There is a need to revisit the existing STD education curriculum in both schools and universities so that appropriate intervention on STDs can be implemented.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph14020159","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,10]],"date-time":"2017-02-10T05:27:09Z","timestamp":1486704429000},"page":"159","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":83,"title":["Assessing the Knowledge Level, Attitudes, Risky Behaviors and Preventive Practices on Sexually Transmitted Diseases among University Students as Future Healthcare Providers in the Central Zone of Malaysia: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0313-6136","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adigun","family":"Folasayo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Afolayan","family":"Oluwasegun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Architectural Design (SOAD), Linton Universiti College, Persiaran UTL, Bandar Universiti Teknologi Legenda (BUTL), Batu 12, 71700 Mantin, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4299-8676","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Suhailah","family":"Samsudin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0115-5912","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Siti","family":"Saudi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5591-3315","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Malina","family":"Osman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6288-3791","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rukman","family":"Hamat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"World Health Organization Baseline Report on Global Sexually Transmitted Infection Surveillance 2012. 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