Effectiveness and Acceptability of a Sexual Health Education Program for Muslim Countries: An Intervention Study

In Muslim societies, issues related to sexual and reproductive health are rarely discussed and considered sensitive subjects. This study was conducted to assess the acceptability and effectiveness of a sexual health education program in Turkey, a Muslim country. The study was conducted using a one-group quasi-experimental design. The sexual health education program consisted of five sessions of sexual health education, pre-test, post-test, first follow-up (30 days after) and second follow-up (60 days after). The sample of the study consisted of 207 female and 79 male first year Muslim university students. At the end of the program, 96.5% of the Muslim university students stated that they liked the education, 96.2% found the education useful, 86.0% found the online education convenient, and 96.9% would use the information they learned. Muslim university students, in general, found the feasibility of the education to be highly favorable. It was determined that the post-test score of sexual health knowledge was higher than the pre-test score (p < 0.05). The program in this study was found to be adopted by Muslim university students and it is thought to be valuable in societies with similar religious beliefs and views.