Young Nursing Student’s Knowledge and Attitudes about Contraceptive Methods

Abstract

Purpose: Adolescence is considered a period in which individuals are particularly at risk of negative consequences related to sexual health. Increased knowledge levels have traditionally been used as an indicator of the effectiveness of educational programs, but attitudes are not addressed and are a key element for the success of such programs. The aim of this study is to determine the level of knowledge and attitudes toward the use of contraceptive methods among nursing students. A multicenter cross-sectional study was carried out. In total, 2914 university students (aged 18–25 years) enrolled in the study. Participants completed two validated scales to measure knowledge level and attitudes toward contraceptive use. Nursing degree students who received training about contraceptives obtained a success rate of over 70%, compared to 15.3% among students who had not received such training (p < 0.001). The mean attitude score was 43.45 points (10–50), but there were no significant differences in terms of student training (p = 0.435), although they were significantly higher among students who used contraceptives at first or last sexual intercourse (p < 0.001). There was a significant weak correlation between the level of knowledge and attitudes toward the use of contraceptives. An adequate level of knowledge about sexuality and contraceptive methods does not correspond to positive attitudes toward their use, although having an excellent attitude toward contraceptive use is related to their use during youth and adolescence.

Young Nursing and Medical Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Contraceptive Methods

“…An aspect shown in previous research that we have also found in our study is the importance of FPCs in addressing the issue of sexuality and contraceptive education. This result highlights the importance of obtaining information from quality sources such as health professionals in these centers [14,24]. Related to this difference in the level of knowledge, we highlight the nding that those who used some type of hormonal contraceptive method during the most recent intercourse obtained higher scores on the scale.…”

“…Family planning centers are an important option for the education of young people, where health professionals can provide quality training adapted to their needs. Previous research has found higher levels of knowledge, more positive attitudes toward the use of contraceptive methods, and a lower rate of sexually transmitted infections in young people who are aware of these centers and have used them [14][15][16].…”

Contraceptive self-injection knowledge, attitude and practices among female students of a tertiary health institution in south west Nigeria

“…25 A multicenter study among nursing students by Sanz-Martos et al revealed contraceptive attitudinal score to be 43.45 on a scale of 0-50. 26 A study by Cover et al among adolescents in Uganda revealed that contraceptive self-injection was generally favourable to the respondents. 27 Reproductive health policy makers can take advantage of this favourable attitude to make contraceptive self-injection more readily available to undergraduate Nigerian students.…”

Knowledge of Contraception and Safe Sex Among Students at Cantho University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Viet Nam

“…In addition, the percentage of students who learned reproductive health from the Internet with high knowledge was 1.069 times higher than that of other students, the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05; 95% Cl was 1.04 -1.1). Internet also was considered as the most common source of information used to obtain information on contraception in the study of Sebastián Sanz-Martos (47.2%) [12] or in Prem Davis's study (49.7%) [11]. Students had high demand for using the Internet to quickly find information for their learning process, so the Internet was an effective and useful source of information access more widely than other sources.…”