Background: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are among the most common diseases worldwide, putting great pressure on healthcare systems with health, financial, and social implications. However, they are a class of diseases that are preventable due to them having limited routes of transmission. The control of STIs is effectively done through the promotion of preventive and safe sexual practices. This prevention began by assessing the current state of knowledge of undergraduate medical students. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitudes of future educators, i.e., medical students, toward STIs. Methods: A questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study was conducted among male, undergraduate, medical students of three major universities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, namely King Saud University, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, and Alfaisal University. Results: The total number of participants in this study was 387 students. Out of them, 22% were from Alfaisal University, 36% were from King Saud University, and 41% were from King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. There were no significant differences between the different variables and attitudes toward STIs. However, there was a statistically significant relationship between the level of knowledge and academic year, phase, university, and type of school. Conclusion: This study clearly indicates gaps in the knowledge of medical students in the three designated universities, with Alfaisal scoring the highest in knowledge among them. Further research should investigate the reason behind this gap and the best method to address it. Moreover, additional emphasis on the knowledge of STIs and prevention should be implemented into the curriculums.
Key words: Cross-sectional, knowledge, attitude, STI, medical students.
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