STD content in school health textbooks: an evaluation using the worth assessment procedure

Area of Science:

• Public Health Education
• Adolescent Health
• Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Prevention

Background:

• Classroom education is vital for controlling STDs in young people.
• Textbooks are a primary source of STD information for students.
• Assessing textbook content is crucial for effective STD control strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the contribution of secondary level health and sex education textbooks to STD control objectives.
• To assess the quality of STD content within these educational materials.

Main Methods:

• Reviewed 13 health science and 5 sex education textbooks.
• Utilized Worth Assessment, a decision analysis tool, to evaluate STD content.
• Focused on information relevant to STD prevention and control.

Main Results:

• Sex education textbooks demonstrated a higher potential for contributing to STD control objectives.
• Health science textbooks were found to omit essential information on preventive health behaviors.
• Both textbook types predominantly provided accurate biomedical information.

Conclusions:

• Sex education textbooks are more effective resources for STD control education.
• Health science curricula need enhancement to include preventive health behaviors for STD control.
• Worth Assessment is a valuable tool for evaluating educational content quality in specific areas.