The Attitudes of Golestan University of Medical Sciences toward Abortion

Medical students should be aware of their beliefs and attitudes, since the professional behaviors are acquired and learned. The purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes concerning abortion among Medical Students’ in Golestan University of Medical Sciences.

In this descriptive analytical study in 2010, 244 of the students based on randomized sampling were selected. The data collected by a valid and reliable questionnaire. The variables such ethnicity, and marital status also measured. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and analytical.

The average age of the students were 20.45 years old (SD =3.03). 59.4% of them were women and 91.4% (223) of them were single. In terms of ethnicity 50.4% (123) were Fars, 36.1 %(88) Turkmen, and 13.5% (33) were from other ethnic groups. The analysis using Mann-Whitney test showed there was a significant relationship between average score of attitude with gender of the students (P=0.003). The total average score of attitudes of female students were 3.33 (SD: 0.56) and 3.07 (SD: 0.68) for the male students

Although in this study, a few of the students had positive attitude to abortion, however is not possible to offer a value judgments. The variables showed gender as influential one. Having professional framework for the moral judgments would be effective on right decision making of health care providers.