Reproductive Health Through the Eyes of Medical Students

Introduction. The reproductive health of university students gains a special significance. Future physicians develop value orientations and professional competencies that directly affect the reproductive health status of the population and the effectiveness of preventive programs. Objective. To assess the level of awareness and behavioral attitudes toward reproductive health among medical students and to identify sex-related differences in these aspects. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional anonymous survey was conducted among 236 students (70 males and 166 females, grades 1–6) at the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Saint Luka Lugansk State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation”. A self-designed questionnaire was used, covering domains including sexual experience, contraception, attitudes toward sex education, testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), abortion, and distribution of responsibility for reproductive health. Data were processed using descriptive statistics in Microsoft Excel 2019, ensuring representativeness with a 95% confidence level and a margin of error of ±5%. Results. Sixty-five percent of respondents reported being sexually active; female students reported sexual experience more frequently than male students. Barrier methods remain the predominant form of contraception (70.8%), despite high awareness of emergency contraception (91.5%) and a prevailing attitude toward shared partner responsibility for contraception (89%) and unplanned pregnancy (89.9%). The majority of students expressed positive attitudes toward school-based sexual education (81.8%) and regular STI testing. The proportion of respondents who supports screening increases from 64.2% among first-year students to 94.3% among sixth-year students as awareness grows in the course of medical education.

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