A Survey of Digital Content Required for STD Prevention Education Taught by School Nurses

Abstract

<b>Purpose</b><b>: </b>In recent years, there has been concern in Japan about the increase in STDs among adolescents aged 15 - 19. In order to prevent STDs and guide adolescents toward desirable sexual behavior, this study&#8217;s goal was to examine the actual state of STD prevention education taught by school nurses as part of the school curriculum, as well as the kinds of digital content they wish to have for teaching on the subject.<b> Method</b><b>: </b>An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was distributed by email and leaflet. Targeting the 100 valid responses received from the surveyed school nurses, descriptive statistics were made for each survey item and comparisons were made between the early- and mid-career groups based on years of experience.<b> Results</b><b>: </b>70.0% of respondents reported teaching about STDs in Health & Physical Education classes. School nurses in the early-career group used ready-made materials, while the mid-career group used both ready-made and self-made materials. 95% of respondents reported that they had little or no knowledge of STDs, while 84% reported that they were &#8220;good&#8221; or &#8220;fairly good&#8221; at teaching classes on sexuality. Both groups reported difficulty with the topics of &#8220;phimosis&#8221; and &#8220;nocturnal emissions&#8221; in the physiological category, &#8220;sexual behavior&#8221; in the &#8220;sex-adjacent&#8221; category, and &#8220;sexual and reproductive issues&#8221; in the psychosocial category. Respondents expressed a need for digital content covering the topics of &#8220;sexual violence&#8221;, &#8220;sexual abuse&#8221;, &#8220;sexually transmitted diseases&#8221;, and &#8220;how to turn down sex&#8221;. The mid-career group desired digital content for more items than the early-career group, with significant differences in the pathogens involved in sexually transmitted diseases and sex-adjacent items. 32.0% of respondents answered that they had done self-study for sex education classes in the past three years, and both groups desired self-study on &#8220;sexually transmitted diseases&#8221;, with the mid-career group significantly higher than the early-career group on &#8220;cervical cancer & HPV&#8221;, &#8220;emergency contraceptives&#8221;, and &#8220;media literacy&#8221;.<b> Conclusion</b><b>: </b>Health & Physical Education is the main subject that covers STDs, and pre-existing materials are commonly used. It is expected that this is due to nurses&#8217; busy schedules and the fact that only one school nurse is assigned to each school. The data collected suggested that nurse teachers want categorized digital content that can be used in the classes they are responsible for, rather than educational content on topics they are not comfortable with. In addition, given the changing environment surrounding sex, it was clear that they wish to understand the realities and needs of the high school students they teach, and desire self-study opportunities to improve their teaching methods.