Assessment of medical students knowledge and attitude toward infertility at Jouf University, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Infertility is considered a chronic disease of the reproductive system, affecting both males and females. The goal of this study wass to assess medical students' knowledge and attitudes concerning infertility at Jouf University in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out on medical students at Jouf University from February to October of 2023. We designed our study with fourteen questions for knowledge and four questions for attitude. Results: A total of 121 medical students participated, with 46.2% male and 53.7% female. Compared to male students (67.8%), female students (75.3%) exhibited better knowledge and attitudes (P=0.001). Additionally, there was a strong correlation between knowledge and attitude, with means and standard deviations calculated based on demographic factors. However, a lack of knowledge regarding contraceptive use was observed in 75.3% of female and 57.1% of male students. The majority of students responded positively to the attitude questions, with 80% of female students believing that infertility is a curable disease. The binary logistic regression showed that students aged 22 to 26 had 53% more knowledge than those aged 18 to 21 (OR: 1.733; 95% CI 1.087 to 2.865). In addition, second-year students had more knowledge than first-year students (OR: 0.587; 95% CI 0.254 to 0.977), followed by third-year students (OR: 0.462; 95% CI 0.186 to 0.745), fourth-year students (OR: 0.182; 95% CI 0.152 to 0.713), and fifth-year students (OR: 0.287; 95% CI 0.097 to 0.371). Conclusion: The majority of the medical students at Jouf University responded favorably to questions about their knowledge and attitudes toward infertility.