Knowledge, attitudes and practices of primary health care professionals about sexuality and sexually transmitted infections in the elderly: a quasi-experimental study

During recent years there has been a significant increase in the incidence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in older people, related mainly due to non-adherence to the use of condoms during sexual intercourse and beliefs unfavorable outcomes among the elderly, heightened by weak approaches to health services due to the frequent stigmatization of this public. The objective of the study is to analyze the knowledge and attitude of Primary Health Care nurses about sexuality and STIs in elderly people, before and after an educational intervention. This is a quasi-experimental study, of the before and after type, carried out with 11 PHC nurses. Data collection took place in 2023, in three stages: pre-intervention, intervention and post-intervention. A questionnaire on characteristics was used demographics, academic background, practices, knowledge and attitude about sexuality and STIs in elderly people. The educational intervention was through a workshop, lasting 4 hours. Didactic resources such as dynamics, consultation simulation and video were used. A The first part of the statistical analysis was descriptive, with frequency being determined. For comparison of the knowledge and attitude of the participants pre- and post-intervention, the parametric T test for the knowledge variable and the non-parametric Wilcoxon test for the attitude variable for comparing scores, establishing the significance level of 5%. As a result, there was a statistically significant difference (p>0.05) in the scores of attitude of primary health care professionals after the educational intervention. It is concluded, therefore, that attitudes about sexuality and STIs have become more positive among study participants after the educational intervention.