Awareness and attitudes of pregnant women towards STI prevention and treatment in new sociomedical conditions of COVID-19 pandemic

Background - Restriction on in-person events during the pandemic constitutes a dangerous factor causing the reduced awareness of youth of the risks and measures to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Consequently, pregnancies ending in childbirth in 2022 occurred against the backdrop of the COVID-19 situation, characterized by a decrease in preventive activity. Information deficit in 2020-2021 and the emphasis on issues of maintaining health in connection with the psychological factors of the pandemic accounted for peculiarities of awareness of young women regarding the prevention of STIs. The objective of our study was to analyze the knowledge and attitude of women towards prevention, diagnosis and treatment of STIs during pregnancy and to highlight the differences that arose depending on their education profile/profession. Materials and Methods - In 2022, against the background of the cancelation of most anti-epidemic restrictions, we conducted a sociological survey of 518 pregnant women. The respondents were divided into two comparable subgroups (178 respondents with education in medicine/biology and 340 females with other education profiles). This sample size corresponded to a significance level of 95%. Data processing was based on the calculation of relevant indicators (the proportion of parents - women and their husbands - screened for STIs prior to the conception, readiness for systematic screening examinations, and intentions to seek medical help for STIs). The significance of the difference in values between the subgroups of respondents with education in medicine/biology and education in humanities or technology was assessed using the Student’s t-test. Results - We revealed that 66.8% of respondents were focused on productive contact with the health care system, 74.2% of women with education in medicine/biology were examined for STIs, which statistically significantly (p<0.05) exceeded the proportion of women with other education profiles (62.9%). At the same time, the level of trust in the public venereological services vs. private clinics was significantly higher among all categories of pregnant women (p<0.01). Conclusion - Our study exhibited a high level of awareness among pregnant women about the STIs and the beneficial importance of preparation for conception by STI prevention. Women with education in medicine/biology had a more conscious attitude towards screening examinations for STIs, but at the same time demonstrated a higher desire for self-medication. We established that during the pandemic, young people in general have shown a stronger intention to receive medical care in private clinics, but in case of pregnancy exhibited higher confidence in public medical facilities.