Contact: Richard A. Crosby, PhD
(404) 639-8376
rqc4@cdc.gov

Counseling Can Help Correct Misconceptions About Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Many individuals have misguided notions of how to protect themselves from sexually transmitted disease, but counseling may help, suggest the results of a study of 3,500 STD clinic visitors.

"The most striking finding was the high prevalence of basic misconceptions about behaviors that prevent infection," said lead author Richard A. Crosby, PhD, of the Division of STD Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA.

According to the researchers, many individuals with misconceptions are actually interested in preventing STDs, but they just don't have the correct information to do so. "Counselors can help patients replace their misconceptions with more effective strategies for STD protection," Crosby said.

Over 15 million new cases of STDs such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis occur each year, according to the study.

When they were first interviewed, nearly half of the study participants believed douching protected against STDs, approximately 40 percent thought urinating after sex staved off STDs, 20 percent believed birth control pills protected against STDs, and 16 percent thought washing genitals after sex was effective protection.

None of these activities are protective against STDs. Evidence exists that irritation caused by douching may in fact increase STD infection risk. Abstinence and properly-used latex condoms are the best STD protection, according to the study.

The counseling sessions received at the clinic dispelled the STD misconceptions many of the study participants held, Crosby and colleagues found. Approximately half of those who originally had misconceptions were no longer misguided when they completed a survey three months after their clinic visit.

Their new awareness may have resulted from several factors. "People either learned on their own after being diagnosed with an STD, learned as a result of counseling sessions or fact sheets or both, or some combination of these possibilities," noted Crosby.

Of those study participants who still held misconceptions even after their clinic visit, several demographic characteristics emerged. Participants aged 24 and older with less than a high school education were especially likely to continue to believe that douching prevents STDs, for example.

"Counseling sessions for older, less educated women should include more emphasis on the point that douching may actually promote rather than prevent STD," said Crosby.

One study finding was counterintuitive: study participants with lasting STD misconceptions were no more likely to engage in unprotected sex or to contract STDs than those with no misconceptions. "While misconceptions may lead to the adoption of ineffective preventive behaviors such as urinating or washing after sex, these practices may nonetheless be used in conjunction with other more effective practices such as condom use and abstinence," said Crosby.

"Our findings add to a growing body of literature supporting the effectiveness of interactive HIV/STD-prevention counseling approaches aimed at personal risk reduction," he concluded.

Funding for the study was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, sponsored by the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and the American College of Preventive Medicine, is published eight times a year by Elsevier Science. The Journal is a forum for the communication of information, knowledge, and wisdom in prevention science, education, practice, and policy. For more information about the Journal, contact the editorial office at (619) 594-7344.