Peculiarities of contraceptive behavior among female medical students

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This paper presents a review of the current literature on reproductive health problems and contraception in Russian girls. The history of the development and use of contraception in our country was considered, and the awareness, and choice of a suitable method of protection against unwanted pregnancies among Russian university students were analyzed. In addition, data on the contraceptive preferences of students in Europe, Asia, and United States were presented. The MEDLINE, Global Health, CyberLeninka, RSCI, and databases were searched for papers. Moreover, this review presents the results of the authors study aimed at determining the contraception methods preferred by third- and fifth-year female students of the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University) and assessing the level of awareness on pregnancy planning. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An anonymous online questionnaire was administered to third- and fifth-year girls at Sechenov University. A total of 360 questionnaires (filled out on the Yandex.Forms platform) administered to female students aged 1924 years were analyzed. RESULTS: The questionnaires of 176 third- and 184 fifth-year female students were evaluated. The majority of the third-year (72.2%) and fifth-year (83.8%) students had sexual experiences. The main contraception methods among third- and fifth-year female students were barrier methods and interrupted intercourse, hormonal methods of contraception were rarely used (up to 10% of the respondents), and no experience in using intrauterine contraceptives and spermicides was reported. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of awareness among medical students on modern and reliable contraception methods and their preference for ineffective methods indicate the need to cover reproductive health issues from the first year of study.