Assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice of sexual health among students in a Chinese medical college: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Sexual health is an essential part of overall well-being, and medical students' sexual education, level of sexual knowledge, and attitudes toward sexual health will affect their sexual behavior.

Aim: To explore the correlation among medical decision tendency, sex education level, and sexual health KAP (knowledge, attitudes, and practices).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey in March 2019. Data were collected via online surveys with a self-developed questionnaire covering sexual KAP and sexual education. We used Spearman correlation to assess the effect of sexual education on KAP after scoring the related questions.

Outcomes: Outcomes included descriptive analysis and correlation of medical and nursing students' KAP and education regarding sexual health.

Results: Medical and nursing students hold a high level of sexual knowledge (74.8%) and a positive attitude toward premarital sex (87.5%) and homosexuality (94.5%). By conducting the correlation analysis, we observed that medical and nursing students' tendency to support friends' homosexuality was positively correlated with the view that medical intervention for transgender or gay/lesbian people is unnecessary (P < .01). A positive correlation was also found between medical and nursing students who want more diverse sexual education and who would tend to provide patients with more humanistic care regarding their sexual needs (P < .01).

Clinical translation: Medical and nursing students who want more diverse sexual education and who had higher scores in the sexual knowledge test tend to provide their patients with more humanistic care regarding sexual needs.

Strengths and limitations: The research shows the current situation of medical and nursing students' sexual education experience and preference and sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Heat maps were used to more intuitively describe the correlation between medical students' characteristics and their sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors and sex education. The results may not be generalizable across China, as the participants were from 1 medical school.

Conclusion: It is essential to provide sexual education for medical and nursing students to ensure a more humanistic approach to patient care regarding sexual needs; therefore, we recommend that medical schools invest in sexual education for medical and nursing students throughout their education.

Keywords: health knowledge; practices; sex education; sexual behavior; students.

Figure 1

Flowchart of the questionnaire.

Figure 2

Heat map shows the Spearman correlations among responses to survey questions in our study population. Questions were grouped into beliefs, education, knowledge, medicine, and practice (KAP group). Red, positive correlation; blue, negative correlation. Q, question. ^*P < .05. ^**P < .01. ^***P < .001. ^×P < .0001. KAP, knowledge, attitudes, and practices.