College Students’ Contraception Knowledge Level and Attitude towards Sexual Education

Feng+Yaolin

【Abstract】Undergraduates， generally 18-24 years old， are in the most active period of sexual lives. With the development of economy and Internet， students have more ways to access to sexual information， some of which are wrong. To characterize the differences and similarities among college students about their contraceptive knowledge and attitude towards sex education， anonymous questionnaire forms were sent out to undergraduates from College of Liberal Arts， Yunnan University. With the help of SO JUMP， the overall sample was randomly chosen and consisted of four grades in undergraduates. In order to analyze the gender differences in the research topics， the respondents were divided into two groups based on gender. Last， three conclusions were drawn：firstly， misleading knowledge of contraception was found in undergraduates； next， males have better contraceptive knowledge than female students； finally， not only should universities and colleges spread correct reproductive knowledge among students， but also society as a whole should popularize safe sexual practices.

【Key words】contraception； college students； college students； attitude

1. Introduction

Contraception， also known as birth control，“is a method or device used to prevent pregnancy”（Slocum-Dickson Medical Group， 2016）. The sexual consciousness of college students has increased in the past decades （ Huang & Tian， 2016）. However， we all acknowledge that“unintended pregnancy poses a major health problem on female students in higher educations” （Hailu， et al.， 2015）， no matter at home or abroad . Many Chinese researchers care about disseminating reproductive physiology knowledge among Chinese college students and contraceptive knowledge investigations have already been conducted at many universities. Those researchers believe that such investigations can“provide scientific basis for promoting high quality reproductive health education”（ Wu et al.， 2007） .

From my own perspective， the reason why we spend so much time tracing the change in college students sexual behavior， is to advise educators what topics students do not understand， and in the long term improve society. Quite a few researchers found that compared to developed countries， Chinese students generally gain sexual knowledge through internet sources （Zhou et al. 2009）. In fact， previous experiences with STDs （Sexually Transmited Disease） can motivate some women to gain more knowledge on sexual reproduction （Zou et al. 2007） .endprint

Once women become pregnant or infected with STD its too late to use newly learned prevention related sexual knowledge. Although we have already had various investigations among Chinese universities， there still remains lack of data from Yunnan， especially from Yunnan University. After all， we cant ignore that the number of students infected with AIDS is increasing at nearly 10 people per year， according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Yunnan Province. Moreover， we havent known how deep The College of Liberal Arts， Yunnan University students knowledge of contraception and sex protection measures is. For example， do they know about oral contraceptives？ If needed， will they choose to take them？ Why or why not？

Questionnaires were sent out from Internet by SO JUMP and all of them are valid， which is roughly a quarter of College of Liberal Arts， Yunnan University. Next， all the data was analyzed by SPSS proving the data more reliable. The paper is organized as follows：First the methodology is introduced， including the content of the questionnaire， then how the results are obtained and their significance is discussed； finally， the conclusion is drawn.

2. Methods

The investigation was conducted through a questionnaire anonymously completed by undergraduates from College of Liberal Arts， Yunnan University during April， 2017. The questionnaire was administered to students of Chinese International Language Education and Chinese Language Literature. Additionally， the questionnaire was finished online on respondents cellphones with the help of SO JUMP App.

2.1 Sample

The number of all the undergraduates from College of Liberal Arts， Yunnan University was 440， approximately. With the help of SO JUMP， the overall sample （N=120）， was randomly chosen and consisted of undergraduates in four grades. All the questionnaires were valid. The respondents were divided into two groups by gender as it is a key factor which can influences their knowledge level and general attitude towards contraception. Over a period of half-month investigation in the undergraduates， 107 （85.83%） female students and 17 （14.17%） male students participated to fill in the questionnaire. Finally， all the data were analyzed by SO JUMP.

All the respondents were adults， and most of them （43.33%） were at the age of 20.

Table 1 Age distribution diagram

2.2 Questionnaire

In total there were 25 questions in the questionnaire（see Appendix 1）， which were classified into 4 parts.endprint

Q 1 to Q 6 were listed to identify students basic information， including gender， age， grades， majors and whether they were undergraduates from College of Liberal Arts， Yunnan University. These questions helped to find the correlation between the respondents attitude， knowledge and factors listed above.

Q 7 to Q 14 were used to explore the students knowledge and acceptance of contraceptive methods.

The general knowledge of and attitude to pregnancy were measured by Q15 to Q 22. The purpose of Q 15， Q 16， Q 19， and Q 20 was to determine if students had ever gained knowledge of menstrual cycle and early pregnancy signs. Q 17 to Q 18 were used to evaluate students opinions about premarital pregnancy； their view of induced abortion was asked about in Q 21 and Q 22.

Q 23 to Q 25 gauged undergraduates perspectives regarding sexual education.

3. Results

The students sample （N=120） represented 25% of the undergraduates population of College of Liberal Arts， Yunnan University. Among them， there were 23 （19.17%） freshmen， 57 （47.5%） sophomores， 24 （20%） juniors， and 16 （13.33%） seniors. Besides， the mean age was 20.13 years； the average age of male is 21.12， and the girls is 19.97.

3.1 Contraceptive knowledge

Table 2 Contraceptive knowledge （%）

Male Female Total

（n）

Yes No Yes No

Can emergency contraceptives be used instead of regular contraceptives？ 11.76

（2） 88.24

（15） 9.71

（10） 90.29

（93） 120

Would you chose short acting oral contraceptives for yourself or your girlfriend？ 35.29

（6） 64.71

（11） 45.63

（47） 54.37

（56） 120

Do you know how to calculate the menstrual cycle？ 23.53

（4） 76.47

（13） 44.66

（46） 55.34

（57） 120

Do you trust in painless induced abortion？ 11.76

（2） 88.24

（15） 2.91

（3） 97.09

（100） 120

Most students had a correct view that emergency contraceptives couldnt be used to replace regular contraceptives， and no manifest difference was found between the male （11.76%） and female （9.71%） respondents when their answer was“Yes”. Although most undergraduates didnt trust in painless induced abortion， it seemed that males had much more confidence in it than females. Moreover， most students didnt want to choose short acting oral contraceptives. But comparatively women were more willing to accept them than men. Also， females had a better knowledge of menstrual cycle， but most of them still couldnt calculate it （see Table 2）.endprint

Table 3 Knowing of contraceptive methods （n）

X＼Y Male Female Total（n）

Male condom 17（100%） 99（96.12%） 116

Female condom 10（58.82%） 37（35.92%） 47

Short acting oral contraceptives 10（58.82%） 85（82.52%） 95

Emergency contraceptives 11（64.71%） 89（86.41%） 100

The rhythm method 10（58.82%） 67（65.05%） 77

Coitus interruptus 12（70.59%） 65（63.11%） 77

Intrauterine device 4（23.53%） 39（37.86%） 43

Hormonal patches 2（11.76%） 6（5.83%） 8

Contraceptive injection 3（17.65%） 12（11.65%） 15

Subcutaneous implant contraception 1（5.88%） 9（8.74%） 10

Table 4 You do had known and would use the method of

contraception （n）

X＼Y Male Female Total

Male condom 16（94.12%） 69（66.99%） 85

Female condom 1（5.88%） 9（8.74%） 10

Short acting oral contraceptives 2（11.76%） 42（40.78%） 44

Emergency contraceptives 4（23.53%） 43（41.75%） 47

The rhythm method 2（11.76%） 22（21.36%） 24

Coitus interruptus 6（35.29%） 20（19.42%） 26

Hormonal patches 0（0%） 2（1.94%） 2

Table 5 The best contraceptive method （n）

X＼Y Male Female Total

Male condom 13（76.47%） 62（60.19%） 75

Short acting oral contraceptives 1（5.88%） 14（13.59%） 15

Emergency contraceptives 0（0%） 3（2.91%） 3

The rhythm method 1（5.88%） 11（10.68%） 12

Coitus interruptus 2（11.76%） 13（12.62%） 15

The majority had heard of contraceptive methods like short acting oral contraceptives， emergency contraceptives， the rhythm method， coitus interruptus and male condom； on the contrary， less than half students had known about female condom， unexpectedly it was found that males have higher knowledge level of the female condom and hormonal patches than females. The respondents who had known hormonal patches， contraceptive injection and subcutaneous implant contraception， only accounted for less than 13%. Therefore， female condom and hormonal patches would be chosen by only a few undergraduates. Females had higher awareness than males on oral contraceptives， the rhythm method and subcutaneous implant contraception， while men knew more about coitus interruptus than women. When it came to the best contraceptive method， most students prefer male condom. The question of“what contraceptive method is preferred for childless women” was correctly answered by 40% of the respondents， and the answer showed no significant difference between men and women.

3.2 Attitude towards sexual reproductive educationendprint

20.83% students had received information training on sexual reproduction， but the rest had not.

When asked“how do you get to know most of your knowledge of sexual reproduction”， the Internet was the choice of most students. （see Table 6）

Table 6 The way to get to know most of your knowledge of

sexual reproduction

Option Total Rate

The Internet 91 75.83%

Magazine 4 3.33%

Professional books 3 2.5%

Friends 7 5.83%

Classroom teaching 15 12.5%

Effective filling in number 120

97.5% respondents held the view that it was necessary to get sexual knowledge. The proportion of the unmarried young people who were not provided with adequate sexual health information and services by all kinds of sources （school， education， television， public education， etc.） was 94.17%. The opinion that sexual reproductive health education should be carried out among college students is common among 98.33% undergraduates.

4. Conclusions

4.1 College students have very little or wrong knowledge of contraception

The same conclusion was drawn in as Zhous （2009） research，“the reality is that Chinas education compared with the developed countries is relatively backward， and the most students sexual knowledge is self-taught.”

According to the results， students from College of Liberal Arts， Yunnan University， were eager to know about contraception and sexual knowledge， and most of them learned the knowledge through Internet， but seldom obtained it from professional institutions like schools. Additionally， many students know little and even have misconceptions about oral contraceptives which actually are proved to have little side effect on women （see Table 4&5）.

4.2 No manifest difference of contraceptive knowledge is found between genders

The survey indicates that theres no obvious evidence shows that males contraception knowledge is higher than that of female students， which is inconsistent with the result what Wang （2006） & Gen （2008） obtained. But gender difference still remains to some degree：it seems that both men and women have better awareness of contraceptive methods which have closer relationship to their own gender （see Table 3， 4&5）. The reason why women have a better understanding of contraception than before maybe is the development of Internet. Although some females often feel shy or afraid to receive contraceptive knowledge education， most of young people today have a more open attitude towards sex topics and regard sex education as a significant part in school education， according to discussions with some respondents.endprint

4.3 Society should undertake the obligation of giving sex education to students

The results show that 79.17% students hadnt received training on professional sexual reproduction before， and more than 95% of respondents were willing to have such education.

The contradiction between demand and supply of sexual knowledge in our country has been lasting for hundreds of years. Chinas“marriage ban” on college students has been lifted since 2005. In this case， the whole social attitudes toward sex and reproduction have also changed.

The present situation of demand shows that not only universities and colleges should shoulder popularizing knowledge among college students reproductive contraception， but also the whole society should get involved in disseminating correct reproductive knowledge. Its high time to teach students how to protect themselves correctly.

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