Conceptual paper : Awareness and Risk Perception Towards Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) Among Adolescents in Kuching and Kota Samarahan, Sarawak

• Main Authors: Khadijah, Mohamad Tuah, Malia, Taibi, Awang Ideris, Awg Daud, Siti Haslina, Hussin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (HRMARS) 2018
• Subjects: H Social Sciences (General); HD61 Risk Management; HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare
• Online Access: http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/22787/1/Khadijah%20Mohamad%20Tuah.pdf; http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/22787/; http://hrmars.com/index.php/pages/detail/IJARBSS

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are on the rise in Sarawak with the age of those infected getting younger by year. Latest available data on reported cases of STIs is from a newsletter published by the Sarawak Health Department in March 2015 showing 26 cases of gonorrhea and 3 cases of syphilis for Kuching while 8 cases of gonorrhea and 2 cases of syphilis for Samarahan recorded for that month (Sarawak Weekly Epid News, 2015). Based on reviews of past studies it can be concluded that the level of awareness is still low despite the rising cases of STIs reported in Sarawak. A study by Catterall (1981) found gonorrhea to be the most common infection affecting Sarawakians prior to 1981 and based on the current statistics, that has not changed. Knowledge on STIs among adolescents and youths is generally low to moderate, even among health sciences students (ElKalmi et. al, 2015; Soleymani et. al, 2015; Anwar et. al, 2010). The prevalence of pre-marital sex among adolescents (Awaluddin et. al, 2015; Manaf et. al, 2015; Ahmadian et. al, 2014; Anwar et. al, 2010) could be a factor in contributing to the rise of STIs infections. The Sexually Transmitted Disease Knowledge Questionnaire (STD-KQ) and the Health Belief Model are used in this study to gauge the level of awareness and risk perception among the adolescents in Kuching and Kota Samarahan. The focus of this paper is to understand the level of awareness and knowledge of STIs among