Attitudes and behavior of students related to reproductive health

Abstract

Introduction. One of the features of modern societies is the increase of sexual activity among young people. Sexual activity creates new health problems, or to be more exact, it can result in an unplanned pregnancy and disease induced by sexual contact. Material and methods. The data for the study were obtained from the questionnaires filled in by students of the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Economics in Kragujevac in 2008. Out of 615 students of both sexes included in this questionnaire, 222 students were from the Faculty of Medicine and 393 students from the Faculty of Economics. The questionnaire was designed at the Institute for Public Health ?Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut? in 2000 for the project ?Health condition, health needs and using of health protection by population in Serbia?. Results. The research showed that 41.6% of the students included in the questionnaire had sexual relations; 69.1% of female and 30.9% of male students had sexual experience, i.e. one third and two thirds of the interviewed students attending the Faculty of Economics and of Medicine, respectively. The reason for having the first sexual intercourse was love in 50.4%. Almost 80% of the interviewees used a condom during the first sexual contact. According to the answers, 71.9% of the study sample had one sexual partner. More than half (51.6%) of the students having sexual relations did not use contraceptives. Contraceptives were used more frequently by the students of Medical Faculty (54.3%) than those from the Faculty of Economics (45.7%). Conclusion. In order to prevent multiple consequences of ignorance and risky behavior, it is necessary to inform and educate young people about the reproductive health.