Assessment of sexual and reproductive health knowledge and awareness among single unmarried women living in Lebanon: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Sexual and reproductive health (SRH), a globally recognized fundamental health concern and a basic human right is poorly addressed and seldom researched in the Arab world. Disregarding this aspect of health creates various obstacles to accessing SRH related services and education. This threatens the health of a female, namely through increasing the probability of unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions, augmenting the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections, and most importantly, increasing the hazard of maternal and neonatal death. Thus, this study aimed to assess the level of SRH related knowledge and awareness among single unmarried women living in Lebanon. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire in both English and Arabic languages. The questionnaire included 9 sections; socio-demographic characteristics section, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) section, premarital tests section, vaccines section, menstruation and its abnormalities section, pregnancy symptoms and identification section, methods of contraception section, vitamins section, and honeymoon events section. The questionnaire was distributed among all Lebanese governorates to 491 single unmarried women living in Lebanon aged between 17 and 55 years. Student t-test and Chi-Square test were used to analyze results. Results It was found that only 8.8% of all the participants had adequate knowledge. The highest level of SRH related knowledge was about pregnancy (88.0%), and the least was about contraception (13.5%). Most of the knowledgeable participants lived in Beirut governorate (13.6%, n = 8) and had reached universities (10.3%, n = 41), but this was not statistically significant (p-value > 0.05). The effect of a prior visit to a gynecologist was statistically non-significant on the overall level of knowledge (p-value = 0.269). Conclusion Due to the inadequate level of knowledge, SRH education campaigns empowered by the Ministry of Public Health in collaboration with primary care physicians and gynecologists, are recommended in both the societal and academic sectors to enhance the awareness level and make SRH knowledge readily available among unmarried women aged between 17 and 55. Knowing the massive role of social media nowadays, the messages they present should contribute to enhancing the level of SRH knowledge and redirect attitudes and behaviors of unmarried females in Lebanon.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Adolescent Girls Towards Reproductive Health: A Cross-Sectional Study in Turkistan Region, Kazakhstan

“…The impact of poor knowledge of reproductive health can be reflected by the high percentage (>85%) of participants who reported different types of menstrual disorders. The results are similar to previous reports from developing countries including, Hamadanieh and colleagues who conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the sexual and reproductive knowledge of women in Lebanon [ 16 ]. They reported that less than 10% of the participants to have adequate reproductive health knowledge.…”

Knowledge of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, Its Complications, and Management among Lebanese Women: A Cross-Sectional Survey

“…17 This may be explained by the fact that married women may attend more meetings with gynecologists and be more likely involved in conversations about reproductive issues than unmarried women. However, those visits did not boost unmarried females' sexual and reproductive health knowledge, according to a study conducted by Hamdaniah et al 24 In addition, women with higher educational levels had a greater degree of knowledge, similar to what was observed in other studies. 17,25 This is the first research study to estimate Lebanese women's knowledge and perception toward PCOS that enrolled subjects representative of the general population.…”

“…As observed, women incorporated in this study reported considerably varying degrees of knowledge of PCOS. Twenty percent had inadequate knowledge (0-9), 36.4% had satisfactory knowledge (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17), and 43.6% had good knowledge (18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24). The mean knowledge score was determined to be 15.44 AE 7.26 and was graded as satisfactory.…”

What are the sources of contraceptives for married and unmarried adolescents: Health services or friends? Analysis of 59 low- and middle-income countries

“…Although pharmacies and shops are a valuable source of short-acting contraceptives, they offer no provision of family planning counseling and knowledge on women's sexual and reproductive health, which are as important as the provision of contraceptives itself. Poor sexual and reproductive health education is associated with higher risks of sexual coercion, unintended pregnancies, induced abortions, and sexually transmitted infections ( 48 , 49 ). In this sense, it is fundamental to consider the potential impact of the high use of these commercial sources by women at the beginning of their sexual and reproductive life.…”