The purpose of this study is to determine the
current knowledge, behavior and attitude toward STI
prevention among out-of-school youth in the Philippines.
Anonymous self-administered questionnaires were
distributed separately to 28 out-of-school youth (15 male,
12 female, one unspecified). The mean age of the subjects
was 18.0 ± 3.0 years, with an overall age range of 15 to 24
years. The female respondents were younger than the male
respondents on average. The out-of-school youth obtained
information on STIs mainly from the media, and had fewer
information sources than in-school students. Although the
out-of-school youth had insufficient knowledge of STIs
compared to the students, they were fairly knowledgeable
about cervical cancer. They were also more sexually active
than the students. The out-of-school youth consulted their
parents on STI prevention, but received insufficient
knowledge on STI prevention from just this source. It was
concluded that out-of-school youth could constitute a high
risk demographic for STIs, and health education may be
essential to help them protect themselves from STIs.