Faculty of Medicine, Beirut Arab University, Beirut, Lebanon.
Reprod Health. 2021 Jan 28;18(1):24. doi: 10.1186/s12978-021-01079-x.
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH), a globally recognized fundamental health concern and a basic human right is poorly addressed and seldom researched in the Arab world. Disregarding this aspect of health creates various obstacles to accessing SRH related services and education. This threatens the health of a female, namely through increasing the probability of unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions, augmenting the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted infections, and most importantly, increasing the hazard of maternal and neonatal death. Thus, this study aimed to assess the level of SRH related knowledge and awareness among single unmarried women living in Lebanon.
A descriptive cross-sectional study design was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire in both English and Arabic languages. The questionnaire included 9 sections; socio-demographic characteristics section, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) section, premarital tests section, vaccines section, menstruation and its abnormalities section, pregnancy symptoms and identification section, methods of contraception section, vitamins section, and honeymoon events section. The questionnaire was distributed among all Lebanese governorates to 491 single unmarried women living in Lebanon aged between 17 and 55 years. Student t-test and Chi-Square test were used to analyze results.
It was found that only 8.8% of all the participants had adequate knowledge. The highest level of SRH related knowledge was about pregnancy (88.0%), and the least was about contraception (13.5%). Most of the knowledgeable participants lived in Beirut governorate (13.6%, n = 8) and had reached universities (10.3%, n = 41), but this was not statistically significant (p-value > 0.05). The effect of a prior visit to a gynecologist was statistically non-significant on the overall level of knowledge (p-value = 0.269).
Due to the inadequate level of knowledge, SRH education campaigns empowered by the Ministry of Public Health in collaboration with primary care physicians and gynecologists, are recommended in both the societal and academic sectors to enhance the awareness level and make SRH knowledge readily available among unmarried women aged between 17 and 55. Knowing the massive role of social media nowadays, the messages they present should contribute to enhancing the level of SRH knowledge and redirect attitudes and behaviors of unmarried females in Lebanon.
性与生殖健康（SRH）是全球公认的基本健康问题和基本人权，但在阿拉伯世界却未得到充分关注和研究。忽视这一方面的健康会对获取与 SRH 相关的服务和教育造成各种障碍。这会威胁到女性的健康，例如增加意外怀孕和不安全堕胎的可能性、增加感染性传播感染的风险，以及最重要的是，增加产妇和新生儿死亡的风险。因此，本研究旨在评估生活在黎巴嫩的单身未婚女性的 SRH 相关知识和意识水平。
采用描述性横断面研究设计，使用英语和阿拉伯语两种语言的自填式问卷。问卷包括 9 个部分：社会人口特征部分、性传播感染（STIs）部分、婚前检查部分、疫苗部分、月经及其异常部分、妊娠症状和识别部分、避孕方法部分、维生素部分和蜜月事件部分。问卷分发给黎巴嫩所有省份的 491 名年龄在 17 至 55 岁之间的单身未婚女性。使用学生 t 检验和卡方检验对结果进行分析。
研究发现，只有 8.8%的参与者具有足够的知识。与 SRH 相关的知识水平最高的是关于妊娠（88.0%），最低的是关于避孕（13.5%）。大多数知识渊博的参与者居住在贝鲁特省（13.6%，n=8），并上过大学（10.3%，n=41），但这在统计学上没有显著差异（p 值>0.05）。曾就诊于妇科医生对整体知识水平的影响在统计学上无显著意义（p 值=0.269）。
由于知识水平不足，建议卫生部与初级保健医生和妇科医生合作，开展 SRH 教育活动，提高 17 至 55 岁未婚女性的意识水平，使 SRH 知识普及。鉴于当今社交媒体的巨大作用，它们所呈现的信息应该有助于提高 SRH 知识水平，改变黎巴嫩未婚女性的态度和行为。
