Predictors of self‐reported sexually transmitted infections among Turkish university students

Abstract

SummaryBackground and aimSexually transmitted infections (STIs) are among the most crucial health problems that sexually active university students may encounter. This study aims to identify the predictors of self‐reported STIs among university students.MethodsStudy participants were 2,241 individuals who reported having had sexual intercourse among a cohort of 9,693 students surveyed from 21 Turkish universities. The age of participants ranged from 17 years to 28 years.ResultsThe Chi‐Square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) analysis indicated that gender was the main predictor of self‐reported STI. Also, number of partners and substance use were found as predictor variables for males. Finally, the classification accuracy of the CHAID model was found to be 95.3% within the sample.ConclusionsThe present findings shed light on risk factors for STI acquisition, suggesting possible directions for tailoring future preventive interventions.