Journal article
STI and HIV testing: examining factors that influence uptake among domestic Australian-born, domestic overseas-born and international tertiary students studying in Australia
BMC Public Health, Vol.23(1), pp.1-11
2023
PMCID: PMC10018943
PMID: 36922801
Abstract
Objectives: Sexual health knowledge among international students in Australia is lower than domestic students, however, little is known about what factors affect the uptake of STI testing, nor if there are differences for overseas born domestic students. Methods: We included sexually active respondents from a survey of university students in Australia (N = 3,075). Multi-variate regression and mediation analyses investigated associations of STI and HIV testing with STI and HIV knowledge respectively, sexual risk behaviour and demographics, including comparisons among: domestic Australian born, domestic overseas born, and international students. Results STI and HIV knowledge was positively associated with STI and HIV testing respectively (STI OR = 1.13, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.16; HIV OR = 1.37, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.48). STI knowledge was significantly lower for international than domestic Australian born students (10.8 vs. 12.2 out of 16), as was STI testing (32% vs. 38%); the difference in knowledge accounted for half the difference in STI testing rates between these two groups. International students from Southern Asia, and Eastern Asia reported the lowest STI testing rates. HIV testing was highest amongst international students from Africa and North America. Higher sexual risk behaviour, younger age, and identifying as gay or bisexual were positively associated with higher STI and HIV testing rates. Conclusions Our study supports greater investment and commitment by universities for the provision of sexual health education that can promote access to testing to improve the health of their students.
Details
- Title
- STI and HIV testing: examining factors that influence uptake among domestic Australian-born, domestic overseas-born and international tertiary students studying in Australia
- Authors
- Teyl Engstrom (Corresponding Author) - The University of QueenslandMichael Waller (Author) - The University of QueenslandAmy B Mullens (Author) - University of Southern QueenslandJoseph Debattista (Author) - Metro North Health (Australia)Jo Durham (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyZhihong Gu (Author) - Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia)Kathryn Wenham (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Health - Public HealthKirstie Daken (Author) - University of Southern QueenslandArmin Ariana (Author) - Griffith UniversityCharles F Gilks (Author) - The University of QueenslandSara F E Bell (Author) - The University of QueenslandOwain D Williams (Author) - The University of QueenslandKaeleen Dingle (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyJudith A Dean (Author) - The University of Queensland
- Publication details
- BMC Public Health, Vol.23(1), pp.1-11
- Publisher
- BioMed Central Ltd.
- Date published
- 2023
- DOI
- 10.1186/s12889-023-15418-z
- ISSN
- 1471-2458
- PMID
- 36922801; PMC10018943
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativeco mmons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.
- Grant note
- QUT School of PublicHealth and Social Work KickStart Grant Queensland BBV/STI Professoriate ChairDiscretionary Seed Research Grant Grifth University Dean of Medicine Grifth Seed Project Funds
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Health - Psychology; School of Health - Public Health
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99714998802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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