Modernizing Sexual Health and Reproductive Health Education to Optimize Military Readiness

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) account for over half of all reportable medical events in the military health system. The military reported a 98% increase in syphilis cases among service members between 2015 and 2023. From 2015 to 2019, the rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea in the Army increased 31% and 49%, respectively. Despite the high morbidity attributed to STIs, there is no standardized, evidence-based sexual and reproductive health education curriculum throughout the military. However, civilian studies on interactive digital interventions (IDIs) as well as interactive computer-based interventions (ICBIs) show promise as a framework for evidence-based sexual and reproductive health education for the military. A meta-analysis of 61 studies reported that IDIs led to effective changes in sexual health behaviors and cognitive perceptions in 75% of studies. Two other meta-analyses of ICBIs demonstrated positive effects on knowledge, intention, and sexual health prevention behaviors among participants. Therefore, preliminary evidence demonstrates that IDIs and ICBIs are efficacious in providing sexual health and reproductive health education. IDIs and ICBIs enable sexual health education and interventions to reach a broad audience and allow for the delivery of standardized training with minimal personnel. The flexibility to scale across different settings and populations offers a cost-effective means to deliver easily accessible information including sexual health knowledge, safer-sex intentions, and prevention methods. It would behoove the U.S. military to modernize and standardize sexual education training to increase the sexual health literacy in the military population to improve readiness, reduce burden on the military health system, and improve the health of the Force.