Author:
Zhou Yanhui,Luo Yang,Wang Ting,Cui Yanhui,Chen Mingzhu,Fu Jingxia
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Fertility knowledge is vital to the fertility health of young people and greatly impacts their fertility choices. Delayed childbearing has been increasing in high-income countries, accompanied by the risk of involuntary childlessness or having fewer children than desired. The aim of this study was to investigate knowledge about fertility issues, the related influencing factors, the method of acquiring fertility knowledge, and the relationship between fertility knowledge and fertility intentions among college students.
Methods
An online cross-sectional survey of Chinese college students was conducted in Hunan Province from March to April 2018. A total of 867 college students from three comprehensive universities responded to a poster invitation utilizing the Chinese version of the Cardiff Fertility Knowledge Scale (CFKS-C). Data were explored and analysed by SPSS (version 22.0) software. Descriptive statistics, chi-squared tests, T-tests, and Pearson’s correlations were used for the measurements.
Results
The average percent-correct score on the CFKS-C was 49.9% (SD = 20.8), with greater knowledge significantly related to living in a city district, being not single status, majoring in medicine, being in year 4 or above of study, and intention to have children (all p<0.05). A total of 81.9% of the participants reported that they would like to have children, the average score of the importance of childbearing was 6.3 (SD = 2.7), and the female score was lower than the male score (p = 0.001). A small positive relationship was observed between the CFKS-C and the importance of childbearing (r = 0.074, p = 0.035). Respondents indicated that they gained most of their knowledge from the media and internet (41.4%) and from schools (38.2%).
Conclusion
Yong people in college have a modest level of fertility knowledge, a relatively low intention to have a child, and deficiencies in fertility health education. There is a need to improve the accessibility of fertility health services by developing a scientific and reliable fertility health promotion strategy.
Funder
Hunan Philosophy and Social Science Fund
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
Reference51 articles.
1. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). World Fertility Data 2017(POP/DB/Fert/Rev2017). http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/dataset/fertility/wfd2017.shtml.
2. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2015). World Fertility Report 2015 (ST/ESA/SER.A/415). http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/fertility/world-fertility-2015.shtml.
3. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World population prospects: the 2017 revision. New York: United Nations; 2017. https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Download/Standard/Fertility/.
4. Schmidt L, Sobotka T, Bentzen JG, Nyboe AA. Demographic and medical consequences of the postponement of parenthood. Hum Reprod Update. 2012;18(1):29–43.
5. China Statistics Press. China Statistical Yearbook 2019. http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2019/indexeh.htm.
Cited by
8 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献，注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献，订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献