Data_Sheet_1_Reproductive Health Literacy and Fertility Awareness Among Polish Female Students.DOCX

The falling fertility indicators and high prevalence of infertility in Poland make it important for people of reproductive age to have good knowledge of their own fertility in order to be able to take care of their reproductive health. This paper examines reproductive health literacy and fertility awareness among Polish female students. It can help identify gaps in reproductive health education in Poland. The study group included 456 women aged 18–29, who were students of 6 public universities located in Poznan, Poland. The method used was a survey using a self-developed questionnaire assessing the students' knowledge of female and male fertility-related physiology and fertility patterns. The respondents' knowledge was assessed on the basis of the percentage of correct answers. Regression analysis and univariate analysis of variance were used to explore relationships between the students' knowledge and their age, year of study, university and source(s) of information. The average score of correct answers was 55.8%. Older students and medical university students were the most knowledgeable. 93.4% of the respondents correctly identified the optimum age for a woman to have the first child from the point of view of achieving pregnancy fast. Over 90% of the respondents knew such fertility-compromising risks as smoking, diseases and psychological distress. There was much poorer awareness of the adverse effect of unbalanced diet, irregular sleep, and long-lasting physical effort. 47.1% of the students reported gaining information from a number of sources, but as many as 28.3% said their only source was primary or middle school classes. Reproductive health knowledge among the young female students is incomplete, especially as regards lifestyle-related risks. They should be encouraged to supplement it by consulting reliable sources such as health professionals. It is advisable to ensure that the curricula of medical university students provide thorough knowledge in this area, and to arrange suitable electives for students from other universities. As primary and secondary school classes remain an important source of information, quality teaching at these levels should be offered with a focus on making the knowledge as practical and operational as possible. Relevant graduate, postgraduate and in-service courses should be available to professionals responsible for spreading reproductive health knowledge.

波兰生育率下降的指标和不孕症的普遍存在，使得生殖年龄的人们对自己的生育状况有良好的了解变得尤为重要，以便能够关注自己的生殖健康。本文探讨了波兰女学生中的生殖健康素养和生育意识，有助于识别波兰生殖健康教育中的不足。研究组包括456名18至29岁的女性，她们是位于波兰波兹南的6所公立大学的学生。研究采用了自编问卷进行的调查，评估学生对女性和男性生育相关生理学和生育模式的知识。受访者的知识水平通过正确答案的比例进行评估。回归分析和单因素方差分析被用于探究学生知识与他们的年龄、学习年份、大学及信息来源之间的关系。平均正确答案得分为55.8%。年龄较大的学生和医学院的学生知识最为丰富。93.4%的受访者正确识别了从快速怀孕的角度来看，女性最佳的生育年龄。超过90%的受访者了解吸烟、疾病和心理压力等可能损害生育的风险。然而，对于不平衡饮食、睡眠不规律和长期体力劳动的负面影响，认知水平较低。47.1%的学生表示从多个来源获取信息，但多达28.3%的人表示他们唯一的信息来源是小学或中学课程。年轻女学生的生殖健康知识尚不完整，尤其是在生活方式相关风险方面。应鼓励他们通过咨询如健康专业人士等可靠来源来补充知识。确保医学院学生的课程提供该领域的全面知识，并为其他大学的学生安排合适的选修课是明智之举。鉴于小学和中学课程仍然是重要的信息来源，应在这些层面上提供高质量的教学，重点关注使知识尽可能实用和操作性。应提供相关的研究生、博士后及在职课程，以供负责传播生殖健康知识的专业人士使用。