title: A youth-led reproductive health program in a university setting.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Reproductive health problems affect youths in all countries. There is an urgent need to enhance youths reproductive health services to provide a healthy life for this group. In this regard, the present study aimed to evaluate the Reproductive Health Peer Education Program based on the opinion of university students.
  
  
  METHODS
  This interventional study was conducted in Qazvin University of Medical Sciences through the peer education method. The participants of this study were 24 peer educators who received training in a 40 hour peer educator training course. The peer education program was implemented in the university. In order to evaluate this community- based intervention, 329 students were selected through the stratified sampling method and their opinion was assessed. Descriptive statistical methods were used by SPSS software for data analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results of the study revealed that peer education was accepted by 64.7% (n= 213) of the students, according to their opinion. The educational priorities of the students were as follows: pre-marriage counseling (78%, n= 166); STI/AIDS (17%, n= 36); and contraception (5%, n= 11). The peer education program was recognized as the most required reproductive health service in the university by 55.3% (n= 118) of the students. They believed that the most important duties of the peer educators were: education (33.5%, n= 71); counseling (30.4%, n= 65); referring to a counseling center (21.6%, n= 46) and referring to a therapeutic center (14.5%, n= 31). Also, the students stated that confidentiality (53%, n= 113), suitable communication (26%, n= 55) and sufficient knowledge (21%, n= 45) were desired characteristics for the peer educators.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the students' opinion, peer education could provide suitable reproductive health services and could also be beneficial for reproductive health promotion and might reinforce positive behaviors in youths. Reproductive health peer- counseling is a sensitive process, and it is best to be conducted under the supervision of specialists.
authors.affiliation: PhD, Research Expert, Development of Research & Technology Center, Deputy of Research & Technology, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran, and Non Communicable Disease Research Center, Endocrine & Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran. sh_djalalinia@razi.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Djalalinia
authors.affiliation: MD, Professor, Reproductive Endocrinology Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. frtehrani@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Fahimeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ramezani Tehrani
authors.affiliation: MD, Professor, Public Health Faculty, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. afzali@hbi.ir.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Malekafzali
authors.affiliation: MD, Research Expert, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran. zhashemi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Zeynab
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.affiliation: PhD, Research Expert, Development of Research & Technology Center, Deputy of Research & Technology, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran, and Non Communicable Disease Research Center, Endocrine & Metabolism Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran. n-peykari@razi.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Niloofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Peykari
keywords: Peer Education; Reproductive Health; Youth