Sexual and reproductive health in Spanish University Students. A comparison between medical and law students.
OBJECTIVE
To describe behaviors and knowledge related to sexual and reproductive health of Spanish university students and their association with the subject area studied (biomedical or not).


METHODS
A descriptive cross-sectional observational study conducted with 2074 students aged 18-24years from the University Complutense of Madrid in the Faculties of Medicine and Law. Simple random stratified sampling without replacement was performed. A self-administered, anonymous and voluntary questionnaire was distributed. It was based on the Youth Risk Health Behavior Survey and assessed behavior and knowledge in three areas: sex, contraceptive methods (CM) and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).


RESULTS
In total, 83.5% of respondents had had sexual intercourse, from a mean age of 16.8years and with a mean of 3.4 sexual partners. Compared with the law students (LS), fewer medical students (MS) were sexually active, they had a later age of sexual initiation and they had had fewer sexual partners (p<0.001). High regular use of contraceptive methods was observed (92.8%), with no significant differences between groups, although LS had had more unprotected sex and had more often used emergency contraception than had MS (p<0.001). In total, 81.5% of respondents knew about the vaccine against human papillomavirus, 60.8% its relationship with cancer and 43.2% had been vaccinated, the rates being significantly higher in MS (p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
The behavior and knowledge of medical students in relation to sexual and reproductive health differed from those of law students.
Gynecology and Obstetrics Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: pcoronadom@gmail.com.
Pluvio J
PJ
Coronado
Gynecology and Obstetrics Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.
Carlos
C
Delgado-Miguel
Gynecology and Obstetrics Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.
Adriana
A
Rey-Cañas
Gynecology and Obstetrics Department, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.
Miguel A
MA
Herráiz
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003075:Coitus; D003267:Contraception; D003268:Contraception Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007603:Jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines; D060728:Reproductive Health; D012309:Risk-Taking; D021841:Safe Sex; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases; D013030:Spain; D013334:Students; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D047568:Unsafe Sex; D055815:Young Adult
D053918:Papillomavirus Vaccines
Contraception; Human papillomavirus; Sexual health; Sexually transmitted infections; University