Objective To examine the attitude towards sexually transmitted disease and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (STD/AIDS) and the willingness to seek STD/AIDS-related health service in Chinese young people having sexual behavior through online dating.
Methods Using snowball sampling and 4 online social network platforms, we recruited 15 – 24 years young people with online sex-seeking experience and conducted a voluntary survey via Sojum application from September to November, 2017. A self-designed questionnaire was adopted to collected respondents′ information about demographic characteristics, sexual high-risk behaviors and willingness to seek STD/AIDS-related health service. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the profile of willingness and its impact factors.
Results Valid information were collected from 730 respondents. Of the 1 119 person-times of responses about intended options for seeking STD/AIDS-related health service, 45.9% (n = 514) reported the intention to visit public hospitals or center for disease control and prevention (CDC), followed by the intention to conduct self-testing or treatment (23.6%, n = 264) and to visit private clinic or to have online consultation (19.4%, n = 217); while, 11.1% (n = 124) of the responses reported the disregarding of related healthcare seeking or even the possibility of STD/AIDS infections. The proportion of reporting the intention to visit public hospital or CDC for seeking STD/AIDS-related health care or consultation was the highest among the respondents of various subgroups. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the male respondents were more likely to report the disregarding of related healthcare seeking or even the possibility of STD/AIDS infections compared to the female respondents (P < 0.05) and the respondents having homosexual partners were more likely to report the intention to visit public hospitals or CDC for seeking STD/AIDS-related healthcare (P < 0.05).
Conclusion Young people with online dating experience have a high demand for STD/AIDS-related healthcare service and different willingness/approach to seek the healthcare, suggesting that targeted health education on STD/AIDS prevention and treatment needs to be promoted among young populations and strategies of multi-sectoral cooperation are necessary to increase the access to youth-friendly STD/AIDS service.
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