title: What do male medical students know about the pill? study of knowledge and attitudes at the University of Belgrade.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Women have been traditionally more involved in birth control than men. The purpose of this survey is to analyze knowledge of and attitudes towards oral contraceptives (OC) use in a population of male medical students of the Faculty of Medicine, Belgrade, Serbia.
  
  
  METHODS
  In November/December 2011, a total of 237 male medical students were recruited at the Faculty of Medicine before the start of compulsory practical sessions in their classrooms. Data were obtained through a 26-item questionnaire regarding knowledge of and attitude towards OC use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Less than a half (40.4%) had a partner and 3.2% did not know whether their partner used the pill. Approximately one fifth of the students (28.5%) did not inform themselves about the pill at all. The average knowledge score differed according to the relationship status (Z = -3.414, p = 0.001). The average attitude score did not statistically differ according to the relationship status (Z = -1.384, p = 0.166). An advanced study year was statistically associated with higher knowledge and attitude scores (ρ = 0.575, p < 0.001; ρ = 0.206, p = 0.002, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our students demonstrated a moderate level of comprehension. The results of our study indicate that the use of the OC pill needs further promotion to raise awareness of male involvement in health-related decisions of their partners.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gazibara
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trajkovic
authors.forename: Ilma
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kurtagic
authors.forename: Nikolina
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kovacevic
authors.forename: Selmina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nurkovic
authors.forename: Darija
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kisic-Tepavcevic
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pekmezovic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003267:Contraception / Q000523:psychology*; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055771:Serbia; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003276:Contraceptives, Oral