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Sex education in secondary schools: an Italian experience
S Donati1, E Medda, A Spinelli
1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Purpose:
To evaluate the impact on Italian teenagers' knowledge and attitudes of an experimental program in sex education.
Methods:
The program consisted of five workshops in five public secondary schools in Rome. The impact of the program was evaluated with three questionnaires designed for this study. A pretest evaluated baseline knowledge, a posttest measured the gain in knowledge, and a third questionnaire estimated retention of information 4-6 months later. Three hundred seventy-six students attending secondary school participated in the program. Thirteen questions were selected for the analysis, and improvement was measured by the difference between pretest and posttest scores.
Results:
Ninety-six percent of the sample was in favor of sex education programs in schools. The students had an average 50% gain in the percentage of correct answers following the course. The mean score based on the number of correct answers to questions showed a baseline value of 5.00, a posttest value of 11.80, and a test value 4-6 months later of 10.7. Results showed students' positive attitude toward school sex education courses, low baseline knowledge, and a good ability to learn.
Conclusions:
In Italy there is a need for collaboration between schools and local health services to promote knowledge and prevention in reproductive health among teenagers.