Reproductive Health Attitudes among the Youths: A Cross Sectional Comparison between Students from Different Health Science Departments in Turkey

Abstract

This study aimed to determine attitudes towards reproductive health among young university students who will be playing important role as future healthcare professionals. This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. The research population consisted of 1126 individuals and the research sample was 1096. The study data were collected by using two forms “Information Form” and Reproductive Health Scale (RHS). The students’ mean age was 21.11±1.91. Nearly of the students (78.6%) were females, 75.5% of the students had information about reproductive health, 59.4% of them had obtained information through the mass media, and the female students were much better informed than the male students. The RHS mean score was 139.66±23.58 and 60.5% of the students obtained a score above the mean. Being female increased the scores for the sub-dimensions of Partner Selection and Values in Developing Preventive Behaviors. The results of this study show that the attitudes of the young people studying at the College of Health towards reproductive health were generally positive, but that they were not adequately reflected in their behaviors. Conclusion and recommendation: Further research is needed to reveal why the knowledge and attitudes of the students did not lead to appropriate behaviors.