The impact of comprehensive sexuality education on promoting safe sexual behaviors among 15-24 year-old youths with HIV

Introduction: Many people in different societies regard the topic of sexual needs important, but it is not considered in health service packages nor included in patients' evaluation.Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) program on the promotion of safe sexual behaviors among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive youths aged 15-24 years. Material and methods:This study was a clinical trial with both intervention and control groups, with 27 HIV-infected adolescences aged 15 to 24 years enrolled in each group.Data collection tool was a questionnaire consisting of three sections, i.e., demographics characteristics and history and status of the disease as well as standard safe sexual behavior questionnaire (SSBQ) was used.Five training sessions were conducted, which were held in groups of 2-5 people, with each session lasting for about 60-90 minutes.Respondents completed SSBQ before and two months after the intervention. Results:The results of data analysis indicated that CSE has improved the overall score of safe sexual behavior among the intervention group members (p = 0.001).In the sub-fields of protective behavior, such as avoiding high-risk sexual behavior and avoiding sexual partner's secretions and fluids, there was a significant positive effect but not statistically significant effect in the sub-field of inter-personal skills was observed.Conclusions: By implementing the CSE program among HIV-infected youths, positive effects can be expected in promoting safe sexual behaviors.It is suggested to employ CSE in educational programs of adolescences.