The opinion of medical and biological students on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic: A social monitoring

Aim to analyze the dynamics of the opinions of medical and biological students on the problem of preventing sexually transmitted infections before and during the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection. 
Material and methods. A sociological survey was conducted in 2017 (372 respondents) and 2021 (574 respondents) among the students of institutions of higher and secondary vocational education in medical and biological specialties. We used the authors' questionnaire, consisting of 54 questions grouped into 5 blocks. In both samples, the principle of equal representation of age, gender, social and professional groups was observed. The average age of the respondents was 19.10.74 years. The distribution of the respondents by sex was as follows: in 2017, female 51.9% (n=193), male 48.1% (n=179); in 2021, female 50.7% (n=291) and male 49.3% (n=283). Both samples had sufficient size to obtain results with the accuracy level of =0.05. The analytical, statistical, sociological methods were used for research. In the processing and presentation of the data, the extensive indicators were used, compared with the assessment of the significance of differences according to Student's t-test. 
Results. The proportion of people who had an objective idea of the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections increased from 72.8% (2017) to 87.8% (2021), while the association of the threat only with the frequent change of partners was noted significantly less often (5.9% in 2021 and 16.7% in 2017). The proportion of students linking the risk with social status has decreased from 8.1% to 4.7%, which may indicate a tendency for more objective ideas about the risks of sexually transmitted infections. 
Conclusion. During the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevalence of an objective self-assessment of the epidemiological situation and the associated risks of contracting sexually transmitted infections increased statistically among students. Also, increased their readiness to undergo screening examinations and seek qualified medical care.