A Campaign to Motivate College-Aged, Catholic Women to Get Tested for STIs at the University of Dayton

In 2017, women ages 20-24 had the highest rate of chlamydia cases among any age group for men or women. Additionally, Catholic women are more likely to have “hooked up” while in college than women with no religious affiliation. Due to the already high rate of STIs among young adults, the frequency of sexual activity of college students and the increased frequency for Catholic women, the fact that many STIs are asymptomatic, and the health risks that untreated STIs can cause, testing for, diagnosing, and treating STIs is critical to stop the increasing spread of these infections. According to results from the American College Health Association’s [ACHA] National College Health Assessment Survey conducted in 2018, 98% of college students say that they have not dealt with an STI in the last 12 months. In fact, only 1.8% of college students say that they have been diagnosed or treated for chlamydia, despite the extremely high rates of infection among their age group. This does not suggest that college students are not at risk for STIs, especially considering that less than half of college students who engaged in vaginal intercourse in the past 30 days reported using a condom or other protective barrier. Instead, it suggests that this population is not being tested for STIs at the frequency needed to diagnose and treat STIs. The present investigation surveyed college-aged women to better understand the attitudes, norms, and self-efficacy of Catholic, female UD students surrounding the health behavior of STI testing. This research will propose a campaign and provide specific communication strategies to motivate female Catholic UD students to get tested for STIs at the UD Health Center.https://ecommons.udayton.edu/stander_posters/2596/thumbnail.jp