Background: Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV 2) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STIs) worldwide. HSV 2 infection is a risk factor for the acquisition and transmission of other STIs. Aim: The aim of this study is to determine prevalence and predictors of HSV 2 infection in Durban, South Africa by using available data that has not been previously analysed for the purpose of adding scientific evidence to the existing body of knowledge relating to HSV 2. Method: The study involves secondary analyses of data collected as a prospective study which enrolled women who participated in a clinical trial. A total of 3472 sexually active women were screened in the primary study from two clinics in Durban. All consenting participants were tested for HIV, HSV 2, Trichomonas vaginalis (TV), Neisseria gonorrhoea (NG) and Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) infection. Results: There were 2532 women who had HSV 2 giving a prevalence of 73%. Of these, 53% also tested positive for HIV infection. In univariate analysis, co-infection with HIV was strongly associated with HSV2 (Odds Ratio (OR): 7.4, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 6.0, 9.1, p<0.001). There was also an association between other STIs, such as CT, NG and syphilis and HSV 2, although only NG was significantly associated with prevalent of HSV 2 (OR: 2.3, 95% CI: 1.3, 4.1, p=0.005). Women older than 25 years of age more likely to have HSV 2 (OR: 2.4, 95% CI: 2.0,2.8, p<0.001). A risk of being infected with HSV 2 increased with the number of reported lifetime sexual partners Those with two and three or more were 2,5 and 4.6 times more likely to have HSV2 respectively (OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 2.1,3.1, p<0.001 and OR: 4.6, 95% CI: 3.8, 5.6, p<0.001 respectively). Women who had less than high school education were also found to have higher risk for HSV 2. Conclusion: The secondary analysis showed a high prevalence of HSV 2 infection and a strong association of HSV 2 and HIV. A significant association of HSV 2 was noted in women having more than two sex partners and lower high school education. Therefore, it is recommended that screening for HSV 2 among high risk populations be incorporated into the STI screening and treatment packages. / Prevalence and risk factors associated with HSV 2 / Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 / HSV 2 / Department of Health Studies / M. (Public health)

The collection and utilisation of statistical data is an integral component of rendering primary health care services. This study aimed to assess the utilisation of statistics on certain statistical forms submitted regularly to the Department of Health, by professional nurses at local authority primary health care clinics. Results revealed the following important shortcomings: • Statistics on different forms are viewed in isolation, resulting in a lack of necessary comparisons being made to determine trends. • Several targeted issues in the Reconstruction and Development Programme received insufficient attention, for example, immunisations, teenage pregnancies, tuberculosis treatment, sexually transmitted diseases. • A general managerial inability to analyse, display and utilise collected data by professional nurses. Recommendations centred around increasing the knowledge regarding maternal health care, more focus on prioritised areas of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, appropriate training regarding analysis and utilisation of collected statistics at local primary health care level. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing)

The collection and utilisation of statistical data is an integral component of rendering primary health care services. This study aimed to assess the utilisation of statistics on certain statistical forms submitted regularly to the Department of Health, by professional nurses at local authority primary health care clinics. Results revealed the following important shortcomings: • Statistics on different forms are viewed in isolation, resulting in a lack of necessary comparisons being made to determine trends. • Several targeted issues in the Reconstruction and Development Programme received insufficient attention, for example, immunisations, teenage pregnancies, tuberculosis treatment, sexually transmitted diseases. • A general managerial inability to analyse, display and utilise collected data by professional nurses. Recommendations centred around increasing the knowledge regarding maternal health care, more focus on prioritised areas of the Reconstruction and Development Programme, appropriate training regarding analysis and utilisation of collected statistics at local primary health care level. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing)

Evidence of male sex work has a history as long as female sex work. There is century old evidence of male Sumarians and Greeks selling sex to other men. Men are today still selling sex to other men. This study showed that the elimination of sex work is practically impossible, and could only be accomplished by the gross denial of basic human rights. Male sex workers have not received the same attention from researchers as have their female counterparts. This is so despite the large numbers of male sex workers in cities all over the world who potentially contribute to the worldwide sexually transmitted infection rates. It is known that wherever indiscriminate sexual activities take place, the risk of transmission of infections are greater. The activities between the male sex worker and his client(s) determine the health problems they are exposed to. The purpose of this research was to determine what transpires between male sex workers and their client(s) in order to provide the sex workers with knowledge to better take care of their own health as well as the health of their clients. A qualitative research design was used to collect data by means of in-depth interviews and participant observation sessions. Research strategies that were also used included: description, ethnography, phenomenology, and the biographic methods of qualitative research. The research revealed that men who have sex with men (MSM) were exposed to forty-nine different preventable sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS, trauma, violence, and alcohol and drug abuse. All these conditions relate to the lifestyle and activities of male sex workers. Recommendations were made regarding the removal of factors that hinder the delivery of programmes on safer sex to MSM. A booklet on safer sex for MSM was compiled by the researcher and distributed to all informants upon completion of the research. The neglected topic of male sex work was highlighted and health practitioners and other decision makers can now use the information in this thesis to make a contribution towards the better management of male sex work in South Africa in the interest of public health. / Health Studies / D.Litt et Phil. (Health Studies)

The concept of youth activity centre (YAC) has not yet been evaluated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the YAC in Botswana. Accordingly, the researcher explored and described the lived experience of young people utilising the YAC as well as the perceptions of service providers at the Mochudi Centre in the Kgatleng District, in Botswana. Furthermore, the objective was to develop and describe guidelines for the facilitation of youth-friendly services (YFS) at YAC. A phenomenological, qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was used to extract young people’s experiences and perceptions of service providers. Thirty-two young people and 27 service providers (peer educators and service delivery officers [SDOs]) were purposefully selected. Methods of data collection used were unstructured individual in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observations in the forms of field notes. The data, mainly tape-recorded interviews and field notes were transcribed verbatim for data analysis. Tesch’s eight-step data analysis model (Creswell 1994:155) was used. One major theme, youth friendliness emerged with three categories, namely: physical, administrative, and psychological aspects of youth-friendly services. All the respondents indicated that they benefited and affirmed they were empowered and better people after using the facility. However, limited access to the facility by the target group due to location, cost of reaching the facility, and attitudes of service providers as well as failure to implement planned activities due to financial and staff shortage were obstacles to youth friendliness of the YAC. Based on the findings and literature review, the researcher developed guidelines to facilitate YFS and improved access to the YAC. Recommendations made are for practise in the YAC, education of SDOs and for further research. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

This study was intended to explore the role male partners play in preventing adolescent pregnancy in the Letlhabile area, of Brits district, which is located in the North West Province. Adolescent males and females whose ages ranged between 13-20 years were included in the sample. The inclusion criteria was determined on the basis of the adolescents who were pregnant and non- pregnant, as well as males who had already became parents and those who hadn't experienced fatherhood. Focus group discussions and individual in-depth interviews were conducted.ObservaJions and the review of existing documents were triangulated to gather valid and reliable information. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis were blended. The findings revealed significant factors that ranged from the reaction of parents and/or partner to the announcement of pregnancy, to issues that impact on consequences of multiple sex partners. The recommendations of this project deal with aspects that include contraception, sexuality education, parental involvement among many relevant policy issues. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

BACKGROUND: Studies done in both developed and developing countries have reported the tendencies of adolescents to engage in risky behaviours. Such behaviours include indulging in early and unsafe sexual activities, having multiple sexual partners, alcohol and drug use and dropping out of school among others. PURPOSE: The main aim of the study was to develop intervention strategies for reducing sexual risk practices among adolescents in Ethiopia. METHODS: A mixed method approach using quantitative and qualitative approaches was employed in order to investigate the risks of sexual practices among urban and rural adolescents in the selected area. A cross-sectional survey was used to gather data quantitatively and focus group discussions were used for the qualitative part of data collection. A total of 449 students and 72 FGD participants were selected for quantitative and qualitative study respectively using systematic random sampling technique. Logistic regression was done to identify possible factors associated with knowledge on emergency contraceptive, condom utilisation, pre-marital sex practices and perception of risky sexual practices. RESULTS: One hundred and seventy (37.9%) respondents had experienced sexual intercourse at the time of the study. The higher proportion (42.6%) of those who had engaged in sexual relationships was from the rural school compared to 33.1% in the urban schools. The proportion of sexually active respondents was higher among males (44.8%) compared to (29%) females. Multiple partners were higher in rural adolescents (44.7%) compared to 31.8% among urban adolescents. Sexually Transmitted Diseases were reported by 28.6% of the sexually active adolescents and the prevalence was higher among males (73.5%) compared to 27% females. 87% of the sexually active adolescents rarely used a condom. CONCLUSION: The study identified a knowledge gap on ASRH which limited adolescents to access reproductive services. Social, cultural and economic factors contributed to adolescent engagement in risky sexual behaviours. Based on the major findings of this study, intervention strategies targeting behavioural, biomedical and structural interventions were proposed. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

O conceito de saúde sexual e reprodutiva (SSR) ganha visibilidade na década de 1990, marcada por ativismo social e pela IV Conferência Internacional sobre População e Desenvolvimento e a IV Conferência Internacional sobre Mulheres, que afirmam a atenção primária à saúde (APS) como prioritária. No Brasil, a APS é considerada estratégica para efetivar políticas de SSR no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). Com o objetivo de avaliar a implementação de ações de SSR em serviços de APS, no SUS, no estado de São Paulo (SP), foi desenvolvida avaliação que adota a teoria do trabalho em saúde e a integralidade como referenciais, e utiliza banco de respostas de 2735 serviços ao questionário QualiAB - Avaliação da qualidade da Atenção Básica em Municípios de SP, em 2010. Construiu-se um modelo teórico da avaliação de práticas de SSR na APS - compreendendo os domínios promoção à SSR, prevenção e assistência às doenças sexualmente transmissíveis (DST)/aids, e atenção à saúde reprodutiva, com 25, 43 e 31 indicadores, respectivamente. As respostas dos serviços apontam: pré-natal com início e exames adequados, melhor organização para puerpério imediato do que tardio, planejamento reprodutivo seletivo para alguns contraceptivos; prevenção baseada em proteção específica, limites na prevenção da sífilis congênita, no tratamento de DST, no rastreamento do câncer cervical e mamário; atividades educativas pontuais, com restrita abordagem das vulnerabilidades, e predomínio do enfoque da sexualidade centrado na reprodução. A média geral de desempenho em SSR é 56,84%. O domínio atenção à saúde reprodutiva tem maior participação, seguido por prevenção e assistência das DST/aids e promoção à SSR (teste de Friedman estimou a contribuição no escore; Dunn, a participação relativa). Os três domínios são correlacionados (Spearman > 0,5). Técnica de agrupamento por k-médias mostrou 5 grupos de desempenho: A, B, C, D e E, compostos por 675, 811, 346, 676 e 227 serviços, com médias de 74,71; 61,95; 55,19; 45,57; e 21,56%, respectivamente. Arranjos organizacionais com saúde da família, ou saúde da família com Unidade Básica de Saúde; localização urbana periférica; delimitação da área de abrangência por planejamento; uso de dados de produção e epidemiológicos para organização do trabalho; presença de serviço especializado de atenção à aids no município, são variáveis associadas ao pertencimento do serviço de APS ao grupo A. Ajustadas em modelo de regressão logística, duas variáveis se apresentam independentemente associadas à maior chance de o serviço pertencer ao grupo A: uso de dados de produção e de dados epidemiológicos para organização do trabalho. Os resultados indicam que a implementação das ações de SSR na APS paulista é incipiente e corroboram a hipótese do reconhecimento inadequado da SSR como objeto de trabalho na APS; bem como de definição inapropriada das tecnologias, que limitam a tradução operacional do programa de SSR. Faz-se necessário: rever o objeto SSR para a APS, enfatizando sua abordagem integral; disseminar tecnologias de atenção à SSR; investir em capacitações, sobretudo, de gerências realmente técnicas; e ainda, fortalecer redes regionais temáticas para SSR. O modelo teórico da avaliação construído mostra-se viável e pode ser utilizado em futuras avaliações / The concept of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) gains visibility in the 1990s, a decade characterized by social activism and by the IV International Conference on Population and Development and the IV World Conference on Women, which affirm that primary health care (PHC) is a priority. In Brazil, PHC is considered strategic for the implementation of SRH in the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS). An evaluation was developed with the purpose of assessing the implementation of SRH actions in PHC at the SUS units in the state of São Paulo (SP), adopting the theory of work in health and comprehensiveness as references and using response database from 2735 units to the Questionnaire PHC Quality Evaluation in SP Municipalities - QualiAB in 2010. A theoretical model of evaluation for SRH actions in the PHC was designed - comprising the following domains: SHR promotion, prevention and assistance of sexually transmitted disease (STD)/AIDS, and reproductive care, with 25, 43 and 31 indicators, respectively. The responses from the units indicate: early start of antenatal care with proper test delivery, more effective organization for immediate postpartum than for late postpartum, and selective reproductive planning for some contraceptives; predominance of specific protection actions, limits in prevention of congenital syphilis, STD syndromic treatment and cervical and breast screening; occasional education activities with a restricted approach to vulnerabilities, an approach to sexuality predominantly through reproduction. The general performance score for dimension SRH at the units is 56,84%. The Reproductive care domain has a bigger participation in the general score, followed by STD/AIDS prevention/assistance and SRH promotion (Friedman test estimated contribution to the general score; Dunn, relative participation). The three domains are correlated (Spearman > 0,5). K-means clustering method showed 5 performance groups: A, B, C, D and E, consisting of 675, 811, 346, 676 and 227 units, with an average of 74,71; 61,95; 55,19; 45,57; and 21,56%, respectively. Organizational arrangements for work in PHC with family health, or the traditional health center combined with family health; urban outskirts, delimitation of area through management criteria; use of epidemiological and production data for work organization; specialized AIDS care in the municipality, are variables associated with PHC units taking part in group A. Adjusted in logistic regression model, two variables are independently associated to a higher chance of the unit to belong to group A: use of epidemiological and production data for work organization. The results indicate that the implementation of SRH services in PHC in the state of São Paulo is incipient and corroborate with the hypothesis of inadequate recognition of SRH as a PHC object of work; as well as inappropriate definition of technologies, which limit the operational translation of the SRH program. It is necessary to: review the SRH object for the PHC emphasizing its comprehensive approach; disseminate technologies of SRH care; invest in training, mainly in technical management, as well as strengthen thematic regional networks for SRH. The theoretical evaluation model designed is feasible and can be used in future evaluations

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T12:51:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 beneditogeraldesneto_dissert.pdf: 623417 bytes, checksum: 2d2e54af7355747bb5a7836ecc057429 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-10-21 / The current technical knowledge on the etiology, infection forms, clinical picture and treatment of the syphilis comprised more than four centuries to be built. The objective of this research is to identify and to discuss the changes on the medical knowledge on the disease along that time, particularly regarding the treatment. Material and Methods: Bibliographical research of historical nature was performed. Medical newspapers of the studied times were the main sources. The research was complemented with bibliographical indications found in the papers of these magazines and in dermato-syphilography textbooks. Results: Syphilis appeared in Europe in the end of the 15th century, spreading as a serious epidemic. The first explanations for its emergence were mystic and astrological. The doctors tried to treat the patients on the basis of hypocritical-galenic theories of the balance of the humors. Treatment with mercury started to be used in the 16th century and aimed at eliminating harmful humors. At the same time, the conceptual perception of a great venereal illness has appeared; all of the diseases of sexual transmission would be a single disease, and they would have the same cause. In the 18th century, the first tuneless voices appeared settling down highly controversial among ones that defended the uniqueness of the venereal diseases and the ones that believed they could have different pathologies. Both currents were based on experiments with inoculations to prove their positions. The controversy was only undone in the second quartile of the 19th century due to Ricord´s work in France, whose experiments were also based on inoculations. In the beginning of the 20th century, syphilis agent and the Wassermann´s diagnosis test were discovered that opened the field of research. Until that time, the only specific treatment was the mercury. The great first therapeutic revolution occurred in 1910 when Paul Ehrlich based on their advanced immunological concepts, introduced the Salvarsan, an arsenical, whose discovery was the result of an exhausting, methodical and visionary work. Ehrlich imagined to get the "magic bullet", the drug able to eliminate the infection without impairing the organism. With these progresses, the field of research on the syphilis therapeutics was broadly extended appearing new techniques and treatment concepts. The penicillin, discovered by Fleming in 1928, was viable by Florey and collaborators in the beginning of the decade of 1940. It was the mark of a new era in Medicine since it has provided the cure of several infectious diseases. It was introduced in the treatment of the syphilis in 1943, being effective to cure the treponemic infection, mainly without adverse effects. Initially used in association with other drugs, it became the choice treatment for syphilis, with support of numerous therapeutic trials. Conclusions - From the primitive, mystic and astrological concepts until the advent of the microbial theory and the penicillin, the medical knowledge on syphilis has passed a gradual-evolution process , intermixed by ruptures with old knowledge and frequent disputes among collective of conflicting thought. The consolidation of the changes in the medical thought has needed the experimental support and breaking with established paradigms. / atual conhecimento técnico sobre etiologia, formas de contágio, quadro clínico e tratamento da sífilis levou mais de quatro séculos para ser construído. O objetivo desta dissertação é identificar e discutir as mudanças ocorridas no saber médico sobre a doença ao longo desse tempo, particularmente com relação ao tratamento. Material e Métodos: Foi realizada pesquisa bibliográfica de natureza histórica, tendo como fontes principais os periódicos médicos das épocas estudadas. A pesquisa foi complementada com indicações bibliográficas encontradas nos artigos dessas revistas, artigos históricos e livros-textos de dermato-sifilografia. Resultados: A sífilis surgiu na Europa no final do século XV, na forma de uma grave epidemia. As primeiras explicações para o seu aparecimento foram místicas e astrológicas. Os médicos tentavam tratar os doentes com base nas teorias hipocrático-galênicas do equilíbrio dos humores. O tratamento com mercúrio começou a ser empregado já no século XVI e visava à eliminação de humores nocivos. Na mesma época surgiu a percepção conceitual de um grande mal venéreo, todas as doenças de transmissão sexual seriam uma única doença e teriam a mesma causa. No século XVIII apareceram as primeiras vozes discordantes, estabelecendo-se rumorosa polêmica entre os que defendiam a unicidade das doenças venéreas e os que acreditavam serem elas enfermidades distintas. As duas correntes basearam-se em experimentos com inoculações para provar suas posições. A polêmica só foi desfeita no segundo quartil do século XIX graças aos trabalhos de Ricord na França, cujos experimentos também se basearam em inoculações. No alvorecer do século XX, foram descobertos o agente da sífilis e o teste diagnóstico de Wassermann que abriram o campo de pesquisas. Até essa época o único tratamento específico era o mercúrio. A primeira grande revolução terapêutica ocorreu em 1910 quando Paul Ehrlich, baseado em então avançados conceitos imunológicos, apresentou o Salvarsan, um arsenical, cuja descoberta foi fruto de um trabalho exaustivo, metódico e visionário. Ele imaginava conseguir a bala mágica , a droga capaz de eliminar a infecção sem lesar o organismo. Com esses avanços, o campo de pesquisas na terapêutica da sífilis foi largamente ampliado, surgindo novas técnicas e conceitos de tratamento. A penicilina, descoberta por Fleming em 1928 e viabilizada por Florey et al. no início da década de 1940, foi o marco de uma nova era na medicina ao proporcionar a cura de diversas doenças infecciosas. Foi introduzida no tratamento da sífilis em 1943 revelando-se capaz de suprimir a infecção treponêmica, praticamente sem efeitos adversos. Inicialmente usada em associação com outras drogas, tornou-se o tratamento de escolha na sífilis, com respaldo de numerosos ensaios terapêuticos. Conclusões: Desde os conceitos primitivos místicos e astrológicos, até o advento da teoria microbiana e da penicilina, o saber médico sobre a sífilis sofreu um processo de evolução gradativa, entremeado por rupturas com antigos saberes e frequentes disputas entre coletivos de pensamento conflitantes. A consolidação das mudanças no pensamento médico necessitou do respaldo experimental e do rompimento com paradigmas estabelecidos.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-26T12:51:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 celiaramin_dissert.pdf: 1563079 bytes, checksum: e9ef55e61a9de1a8cc8204aba266c2f5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2003-05-08 / The education of health professionals approaches several aspects such as their social role and care work, research and education; that is, they are educated to give support for all of the individual s needs. For a long time, I have been thinking about the practice of sexuality concepts among nursing students since they have to give instructions of the related issues as familial planning and STD/AIDS prevention; sometimes they are victims of their own setting. This transversal, exploratory, descriptive, quantitative study aimed at investigating among nursing students their knowledge, practice and sources of information on contraceptive methods and STD/AIDS. Moreover, it approaches some aspects of sexual-life practice as well as its consequence. A semi-structured questionnaire was used for collecting data. The results showed that the majority of the students had some information on this issue when attending high school period, especially on contraceptive methods as the use of condoms, pills and withdrawal method. AIDS was the most stressed subject among STD. Learning this subject was more effective when they attended graduation period, especially in the 4th grade during the class of Nursing in the Care of Transmitted Diseases. The sources that most contributed for their knowledge were the classes and related reading. They have had little information from their parents on this issue. They reported the initial age of 10 to 13 years recommended to start receiving information on contraceptive methods and STD/AIDS prevention. Condoms and pills are the most effective contraceptive methods according to them. The great majority of them showed a misunderstanding in relation to some contraceptive methods such as condoms and pills playing a role in the prevention of STD. Seventh seven percent of them have just started their sexual life; out of these, 45.7% in the age of 16 to 18 years. The majority of the students stated to know how to prevent STD, however some of them did not make use of this knowledge. The most used contraceptive methods were the combination of pills and condoms, and/or the single use of one of them. Some of them, who made use of pills and other contraceptive methods, without being the condoms, did not care about the risk of STD/AIDS contamination. Behavioral aspect was the greatest constraint between reason/emotion in relation to STD/AIDS prevention and unwanted pregnancy . The approach of this study is to provide better understanding on subjects related to human sexuality for the nursing students, therefore they will be able to work on these themes at hospitals, HBU (Health Basic Units) or at elementary or high schools. Without this learning either their professional activities or their own behavior in relation to sexual issues will be impaired. / A formação dos profissionais da saúde abrange diversos aspectos tais como o seu papel social e assistencial; de pesquisa e de educação, ou seja, são preparados para atender as pessoas em todas as suas necessidades. Há muito, venho refletindo sobre a interiorização dos conceitos sobre a sexualidade entre os acadêmicos de enfermagem, visto que, apesar de transmitirem conhecimentos à clientela sobre temas relativos a planejamento familiar e prevenção de DST/HIV/AIDS, algumas vezes têm sido as vítimas neste contexto.O presente estudo é do tipo transversal, exploratório descritivo com abordagem quantitativa, com o objetivo de investigar o conhecimento, uso e as fontes de informações dos métodos contraceptivos e prevenção de DST/AIDS, além de abranger o estudo de aspectos da vivência sexual e sua conseqüência. Para tanto foi utilizado um questionário semi-estruturado entregue as acadêmicas da 1ª a 4ª série do Curso de Graduação em Enfermagem da Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto. Os resultados mostraram que a maioria das acadêmicas referiu ter recebido informações no ensino médio sobre métodos contraceptivos, principalmente sobre preservativos, pílula anticoncepcional e coito interrompido. A AIDS aparece como a DST mais abordada, o aumento do conhecimento ocorreu no decorrer da graduação, firmando-se efetivamente na 4ª série na disciplina de Enfermagem em Doenças Transmissíveis. As acadêmicas referiram como fontes que mais contribuíram as aulas e leituras específicas. A participação dos pais nesta educação foi incipiente. Acreditam que a idade ideal para se iniciar as orientações sobre métodos contraceptivos e DST/HIV/ADS está entre 10 e 13 anos. Citam como métodos contraceptivos mais seguros os preservativos e os anticoncepcionais orais. Há uma distorção e compreensão errônea por parte de muitas acadêmicas, que alguns métodos contraceptivos como os anticoncepcionais orais e injetáveis e o DIU contribuam em muito para a prevenção de DST. Setenta e sete porcento das acadêmicas já iniciaram a vida sexual, destas 45,7% na idade entre 16 e 18 anos. A maioria (97,8%) afirma saber como prevenir DST, porém nem todas fazem uso do conhecimento adquirido. Os métodos contraceptivos mais utilizados são a combinação de anticoncepcionais orais e preservativos, e/ou pelo uso único de um dos dois, sendo que, as que fazem uso somente da pílula e outros métodos que não a utilização do preservativo, se expõem ao risco de contrair DST/HIV/AIDS. A questão comportamental ainda é a maior barreira entre a razão/emoção dificultando a prevenção das DST/AIDS e gravidez não planejada. A abordagem desta pesquisa reside na perspectiva de inserção de estudantes de enfermagem como orientadores de temas relacionados à sexualidade humana, seja em hospitais, ambulatórios, UBS ou escolas do ciclo fundamental e médio. Entende-se que sem este preparo, tanto sua vivência profissional quanto seu comportamento serão prejudicados em relação à questão sexual e a reflexão sobre sua própria sexualidade.