Background: Adolescent pregnancy is one of the major public health issues globally and in Thailand. Sexual health literacy (SHL) is an important factor to prevent teenage pregnancy.

Objective: To assess the level of SHL and to explore factors associated with SHL among female secondary school students, in a southern province of Thailand.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a southern province of Thailand. One hundred twenty-eight female secondary school students were randomly selected to participate in the present study. The SHL questionnaire was used to access participants’ SHL and included four domains 1) accessing information, 2) understanding information, 3) appraising information, and 4) applying or practicing. The scores of SHL were calculated using the formula “Index – score, which is mean less the minimal value of mean times 50 divided by 3”. The results were divided into four levels as inadequate if less than 25, problematic from 26 to 33, sufficient from 34 to 42, and excellent if greater than 42. Both the formula and the levels were adopted from the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU-Q47) method. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze general characteristic information. Chi-square was used to find factors associated with SHL.

Results: The findings revealed that more than half of the participants had inadequate SHL scores regarding access to sexual health information, understanding and appraising SHL, and applying SHL in life. The results showed that the grade point average (GPA) was statistically significant associated with SHL (chi-square=6.24, p-value=0.04).

Conclusion: Most adolescents in the present study had inadequate scores on SHL. Therefore, knowledge information and practice regarding accessing information, understanding of SHL, appraising of SHL, applying or practice and skill development, and decision making should be provided and encouraged among high school teenagers.

Keywords: Sexual Health Literacy; Health Literacy

DOI: doi.org/10.35755/jmedassocthai.2021.06.12223

Received 16 November 2020 | Revised 19 April 2021 | Accepted 20 April 2021