Each year, approximately 12 million women, aged 18-24, obtain routine gynecological care in the United States that includes sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing (CDC, 1997). According to the CDC (2002), the fundamental goal in providing STI health care is the reduction of STIs. Unfortunately, there appears to be little effect of STI testing on subsequent behavior change or STI reduction. Available evidence suggests that women come to their gynecological exams with largely unexplored beliefs and misconceptions about sexually transmitted infections (STIs), the testing process, and the meaning of test outcomes. These beliefs may influence women's responses to testing and test results and their willingness to follow recommended treatment regimens, including behavior change. Using the Common Sense Model as a guiding framework, the overall aim of the proposed research is: 1) to establish the psychometric properties of instruments that measure women's representations of STIs and STI testing and 2) to explore women's representations about STIs and STI testing. Two studies are proposed. In Study 1, the Specific Aim is to develop and establish content validity of instruments that measure women's representations of STIs (ROSTI) and representations of STI testing (ROTEST). In Study 2, the Specific Aims are: 1) to test the construct validity and test-retest reliability of the ROSTI and ROTEST, and 2) to describe young women's representations of STIs and STI testing. The long-term goal of this investigation is to develop patient-centered interventions aimed at addressing women's misconceptions and changing their beliefs in ways to meet the CDC's goal of reducing STIs. ? ? ?
| Royer, Heather Rhea; Falk, Elizabeth C; Heidrich, Susan M (2013) Genital herpes beliefs: implications for sexual health. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol 26:109-16 |
| Royer, Heather R; Heidrich, Susan M; Brown, Roger L (2012) Young women's Representations of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (RoSTD): a psychometric study. Res Nurs Health 35:15-29 |
| Royer, Heather R; Cerf, Catherine (2009) Young women's beliefs about the terms sexually transmitted disease and sexually transmitted infection. J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs 38:686-92 |
