The effect of squad leader mentors through short message services for mobile phones in promoting safe sex among first (central) army area conscripts of Thailand.

Background: Conscripts are a vulnerable population group for HIV infection. Their serostatus has been monitored in Thailand as part of the national sentinel surveillance since 1997. Given the nature of the military environment, an innovative program is needed to promote safe sex to reduce the rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV.

Objective: The present study proposed to evaluate the program of "Squad Leader Mentors through Short Message Services on Mobile Phones" in improving the required knowledge, attitudes, and the safe sex practice among conscript groups.

Material And Method: A quasi-experimental design was applied in separate areas. The subjects were recruited by multistage sampling techniques. One hundred forty eight conscripts from the Lop Buri Military District were randomly selected to be the study group, and 114 conscripts from the Sara Buri Military District were the control group. The study and control groups were matched for background characteristics. The changes in knowledge, attitudes, and safe sex practice were measured by pre- and post-test questionnaires over a six-month period.

Results: There were significant changes in overall scores of knowledge of safe sex and STIs. Benefits of using SMS and squad leaders that acted as mentors in the study groups (p-value < 0.001**) were observed. The safe sex practices in the study group showed significant increase in condom use with risky partners such as sex workers and other men (p-value < 0.001**). Therefore, it is believe that conscripts can be mentors in promoting safe sex (p-value = 0.006*).

Conclusion: The presented program can genuinely increase knowledge and practice of safe sex among conscripts in the study group.