Sexual habits, attitudes and knowledge about sexuality of girls and women in Pozega-Slavonia County - possibilities of intervention

Uvod: Edukacija o spolno odgovornom ponašanju, te mogućnosti prevencije posljedica, osnovna su zadaća preventivne medicine. Cilj: Prikupiti podatke o spolnim navikama, stavovima i znanju o spolnosti ispitanica, te analizirati odgovore prema dobi, mjestu stanovanja i stupnju obrazovanja. Metode: U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 200 ispitanica koje su dobrovoljno ispunile posebno konstruiran anonimni upitnik dijeljen prilikom obilježavanja Dana borbe protiv raka maternice. Rezultati: Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da mlađe generacije djevojaka (18-20 godina) ranije stupaju u prvi spolni odnos nego starije ispitanice (30-60 godina), žene koje žive u gradu statistički značajno ranije stupaju u spolne odnose usporedno sa ženama koje žive na selu i imaju veći broj partnera, djevojke koje žive na selu kasnije stupaju u spolne odnose ali imaju veći broj spolnih partnera od djevojaka koje žive u gradu, žene većega stupnja obrazovanja (viša/visoka završena škola) imaju veće znanje od žena s nižim stupnjem obrazovanja (osnovna/srednja završena škola), dok je znanje djevojaka, bez obzira na uspjeh u školi podjednako. Rasprava: Spolno odgovorno ponašanje je ponašanje koje podrazumijeva preuzimanje odgovornosti za spolne odnose i moguće posljedice. Postiže se odgovornim biranjem partnera s kojim se ulazi u odnos, korištenjem zaštite od spolno prenosivih bolesti, redovitim kontrolama kod ginekologa, preventivnim cijepljenjem, te brigom o higijeni. Početak spolnoga života trebao bi biti usklađen s fizičkom, psihičkom i emocionalnom zrelošću, a ne pritiskom vršnjaka ili medija. Od iznimne je važnosti da mladi ljudi prije ulaska u spolne odnose budu dobro informirani i educirani, no bitno je educirati i životno stariju populaciju. Zaključak: Preventivni edukativni programi potrebni su svim djevojkama i ženama, bez obzira na dob, mjesto stanovanja i stupanj obrazovanja.Introduction: Responsible sexual life and prevention programs training is an elementary part of preventive medicine. Objective: Collect relevant information about the sexual habits, attitudes and knowledge of participants and analyze the differences by age, place of residence and level of education. Methods: The study included 200 participants who voluntarily meet specially designed anonymous questionnaire distributed during the celebration of the World Cancer Day. Results: The younger generation of girls (18-20 years old) sooner had first sexual intercourse than older respondents (30-60 years old), women living in urban areas have significantly earlier engagement in sexual relationships from women living in the countryside and have a greater number of partners, girls living in rural areas later engage in sexual relationships and have more sexual partners than girls who live in the urban area, women with higher levels of education (bachelor/college degree) have higher knowledge than those with lower education (primary/secondary school) and the knowledge among girls does not depend on school success. Discussion: Sexually responsible behaviour involves responsibility for sex and the possible consequences. It is achieved by responsibly choosing a partner with whom you enter into a relationship, the use of protection against sexually transmitted diseases, regular check-ups at the gynaecologist, preventive vaccination and care about hygiene. Starting sex life should be compatible with the physical, psychological and emotional maturity rather than peer or media pressure. It is extremely important that young people before entering into sexual relations are well informed and trained but it is important to train older population too. Conclusion: A preventive training program is needed by all girls and women regardless of age, place of residence and level of education