Investigation of the Students' Knowledge about Infertility at Lorestan University of Medical Sciences in 2016

Infertility is the inability to conceive after one year of unprotected intercourse. The aim of the present study was to determine the knowledge of the students about infertility at Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.

This cross-sectional study included 350 students at Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran. The participants were selected using a multistage random sampling method. The data were collected via a questionnaire which sought information regarding demographic characteristics (10 items) and knowledge about infertility (20 items). Subsequently, the data were analyzed in SPSS software (Version 16) through one-way ANOVA and Mann-Whitney test.

The results showed a difference between different age groups and different academic fields regarding the mean scores of knowledge about infertility (P<0.05). Moreover, a significant difference was observed between males and females in terms of the mean knowledge score (P<0.05). However, regarding the mean scores of knowledge, there was no difference among the students whose parents had different educational levels. In addition, no significant difference was observed between married and single students in terms of the mean score of knowledge about infertility.  

According to the obtained results and given the differences in students' knowledge about infertility in different fields of study, it can be concluded that training courses in different academic disciplines can have effects on the improvement of students' knowledge about infertility. Therefore, it is suggested that education authorities pay more attention to this issue and improve students' knowledge about infertility due to its importance and increasing rate of this condition.