Investigation of the status quo of the knowledge, attitude and behaviors about STD/AIDS among college students in a certain institution of higher learning in the city of Shaoxing

Objective The present investigation was conducted to get an insight into the status quo of sexual knowledge, sexual attitude and sexual behaviors of college students and their needs of sexual knowledge for the provision of a scientific basis for more effective implementation of sexual education among college students. Methods Random sampling was used to select 1057 students from the sophomores and juniors and seniors in a university in Shaoxing for them to complete an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey. Results It was found that the rate of knowledge about AIDS among university students was relatively low. Students who were aware of the three routes of AIDS transmission accounted for 83.80%-89.73%. They were short of knowledge of safe sex. About 23.86% - 40.04% of them were exposed to pornographic products, with 14.65% of students experiencing premarital sexual contacts. The average age for the first sex was 19.04 years of age and the average number of sexual partners was 1.69, with 72.39% of the students who had sexual contacts never or seldom or sometimes using a condom. Conclusion Health education on STD and AIDS among college students should not only involve the dissemination of the knowledge, but also the behavioral change and the establishment and maintenance of safe sexual behaviors, with health education and behavioral intervention taken simultaneously.