RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Promiscuity and lack of use of reliable contraceptive methods increase the probability of sexually transmitted diseases and the risk of unwanted pregnancies, which are quite common among university students. AIM: The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of university students about reliable contraceptive methods and sexually transmitted diseases, and to assess the effectiveness of the sexual health education in secondary schools, with specific focus on the education held by peers. METHOD: An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire survey was carried out in a randomized sample of students at the University of Szeged (n = 472, 298 women and 174 men, average age 21 years) between 2009 and 2011. RESULTS: 62.1% of the respondents declared that reproductive health education lessons in high schools held by peers were reliable and authentic source of information, 12.3% considered as a less reliable source, and 25.6% defined the school health education as irrelevant source. Among those, who considered the health education held by peers as a reliable source, there were significantly more females (69.3% vs. 46.6%, p = 0.001), significantly fewer lived in cities (83.6% vs. 94.8%, p = 0.025), and significantly more responders knew that Candida infection can be transmitted through sexual intercourse (79.5% versus 63.9%, p = 0.02) as compared to those who did not consider health education held by peers as a reliable source. The majority of respondents obtained knowledge about sexual issues from the mass media. CONCLUSIONS: Young people who considered health educating programs reliable were significantly better informed about Candida disease.
