Awareness of fertility preservation among Chinese medical students

Introduction: The fertility preservation (FP) services offered in Hong Kong are underutilised. There have been no previous studies on Chinese medical students to investigate the underlying reasons for this underutilisation in terms of awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards FP and age-related fe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hong Kong medical journal = Xianggang yi xue za zhi 2020-06, Vol.26 (3), p.184-191
Main Authors: Elaine YL Ng, Jeffrey KH Ip, Mak, Diane R, Chan, Andrea YW, Chung, Jacqueline PW
Format: Article
Language:chi ; eng
Subjects:
Age
Attitudes
Cancer therapies
Family planning
Fertility
Gynecology
Infertility
Knowledge
Medical prognosis
Medical students
Obstetrics
Response rates
Social networks
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Summary:Introduction: The fertility preservation (FP) services offered in Hong Kong are underutilised. There have been no previous studies on Chinese medical students to investigate the underlying reasons for this underutilisation in terms of awareness, knowledge, and attitudes towards FP and age-related fertility. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey among Chinese medical students in Hong Kong. Results: The majority of participants (77.8%) were not familiar with any clinics or specialists who provide FP services. The vast majority (88.1%) underestimated female infertility at age 45 years, and 89.8% overestimated the age of male fertility decline. The students’ FP knowledge was mainly acquired from electronic media (58.4%) and medical school (57.6%). Medical students showed overwhelming support towards FP for medical reasons (97.9%) but had mixed responses about FP for elective reasons related to career development in women (58.8%). Of the participants, 80.2% agreed that the government should subsidise FP services for patients with medical reasons. Conclusion: This study highlights the limited awareness and knowledge of FP among Chinese medical students. There is a strong worldwide need to increase education about and exposure to FP in the medical curriculum and improve medical students’ knowledge.
ISSN:1024-2708
2226-8707
DOI:10.12809/hkmj208390