Infertility knowledge and attitudes in urban high school students
Received 21 June 2007; received in revised form 8 October 2007; accepted 8 October 2007. published online 05 March 2008.
Objective
To assess knowledge and attitudes about infertility through a survey.
Design
Descriptive study with stratified random sampling.
Setting
Eighteen high schools were selected in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Patient(s)
Seven hundred seventy-two students participated in the study. The mean age of students was 17.5 ± 0.98 years. Females were 49.02% (n = 377) of the sample. The sample was ethnically diverse, consisting of >13 groups.
Intervention(s)
None.
Main Outcome Measure(s)
The main outcome was infertility knowledge and attitudes. Secondary analysis compared gender and socioeconomic status.
Result(s)
The majority (608; 79%) of high school students were familiar with the term infertility (95% confidence interval: 76%, 82%). More than 94% did not know that chlamydia or gonorrhea could lead to infertility. Seventy percent felt that protecting their fertility was important to them, with significantly more females feeling this way. There was a higher proportion of students from schools with low socioeconomic status who gave incorrect answers to knowledge-related questions and were unaware of the association between sexually transmitted infections and infertility.
Conclusion(s)
Although the majority of students value their fertility, knowledge about preventable factors causing infertility was limited. Increased efforts are needed to educate students on factors that may affect their fertility.
bThe Sunnybrook and Women's College Hospital Fertility Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
cDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
dSunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Reprint requests: Susan Quach, M.Sc., Sunnybrook and Women's College Hospital Fertility Centre, 790 Bay Street, Suite 1100, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1N8 (FAX: 416-323-7334).
Supported by unrestricted research grants from Serono Canada (Mississauga, ON, Canada), Ferring Fertility, (North York, ON, Canada), and Organon Canada.
Presented orally at the University of Toronto Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Research Day, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 4, 2007. Also presented as a poster at the International Union of Health Promotion and Education, Vancouver BC, Canada, June 11, 2007.
ABSTRACT