Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical University
Introduction: The quantity and quality of education in the field of human sexuality vary greatly in medical education programs in the United States and Europe. Aim: The current state of medical school education with regard to human sexuality was assessed at an Austrian medical university. Methods: S...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University Press
2019-09-01
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| Series: | Sexual Medicine |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2050116119300443 |
| _version_ | 1797721823386796032 |
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| author | Nikola Komlenac, PhD Heidi Siller, PhD Margarethe Hochleitner, MD |
| author_facet | Nikola Komlenac, PhD Heidi Siller, PhD Margarethe Hochleitner, MD |
| author_sort | Nikola Komlenac, PhD |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: The quantity and quality of education in the field of human sexuality vary greatly in medical education programs in the United States and Europe. Aim: The current state of medical school education with regard to human sexuality was assessed at an Austrian medical university. Methods: Self-constructed questionnaires and the Beliefs About Sexual Functioning Scale were filled out by 391 medical students (mean age = 24.0, SD = 2.5; 52.4% women, 47.6% men). Descriptive statistics are reported for summarizing students’ responses, and structural equation models were calculated to reveal associations between variables of interest. Main Outcome Measures: The outcome variable in the structural equation models was students’ confidence in addressing sexual health concerns of patients. Results: Most students were not instructed in sexual history taking (96.9%), sexual behavior (94.3%), love (97.4%) or sexuality in elderly persons (95.1%), and they reported having poor knowledge of these topics. Most students (72.5%) reported having little or no confidence in addressing patients’ sexual health concerns. The number of addressed topics was positively associated with male (β = 0.47, P < .001) and female students’ (β = 0.52, P < .001) knowledge. Knowledge was positively associated with male (β = .49, P < 0.001) and female students’ (β = 0.33, P < .001) confidence in addressing sexual health concerns and was negatively associated with stereotypical sexual functioning beliefs in the male subsample (β = −0.26, P = .009). Conclusions: Most medical students revealed that the teaching of important sexual health content (eg, sexual history taking) was deficient at this medical university. Education in sexual health issues needs to be increased to positively influence students’ knowledge of and consequently their confidence regarding dealing with patients’ sexual health concerns.Komlenac N, Siller H, Hochleitner M. Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical University. Sex Med 2019;7:318–325. Key Words: Medical Education, Austria, Medical Students, Knowledge About Sexual Medicine, Beliefs About Sexual Functioning, Sexuality Education |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T09:38:48Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1216d1e20df5423b843fbfa9d96fa6e8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-1161 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T09:38:48Z |
| publishDate | 2019-09-01 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sexual Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-1216d1e20df5423b843fbfa9d96fa6e82023-09-02T13:21:55ZengOxford University PressSexual Medicine2050-11612019-09-0173318325Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical UniversityNikola Komlenac, PhD0Heidi Siller, PhD1Margarethe Hochleitner, MD2Corresponding Author: Nikola Komlenac, PhD, Gender Medicine Unit, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innrain 36/7, 6020 Innsbruck. Tel: +43 512 9003-71859; Fax: +43 512 9003-74859; Gender Medicine Unit, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, AustriaGender Medicine Unit, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, AustriaGender Medicine Unit, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, AustriaIntroduction: The quantity and quality of education in the field of human sexuality vary greatly in medical education programs in the United States and Europe. Aim: The current state of medical school education with regard to human sexuality was assessed at an Austrian medical university. Methods: Self-constructed questionnaires and the Beliefs About Sexual Functioning Scale were filled out by 391 medical students (mean age = 24.0, SD = 2.5; 52.4% women, 47.6% men). Descriptive statistics are reported for summarizing students’ responses, and structural equation models were calculated to reveal associations between variables of interest. Main Outcome Measures: The outcome variable in the structural equation models was students’ confidence in addressing sexual health concerns of patients. Results: Most students were not instructed in sexual history taking (96.9%), sexual behavior (94.3%), love (97.4%) or sexuality in elderly persons (95.1%), and they reported having poor knowledge of these topics. Most students (72.5%) reported having little or no confidence in addressing patients’ sexual health concerns. The number of addressed topics was positively associated with male (β = 0.47, P < .001) and female students’ (β = 0.52, P < .001) knowledge. Knowledge was positively associated with male (β = .49, P < 0.001) and female students’ (β = 0.33, P < .001) confidence in addressing sexual health concerns and was negatively associated with stereotypical sexual functioning beliefs in the male subsample (β = −0.26, P = .009). Conclusions: Most medical students revealed that the teaching of important sexual health content (eg, sexual history taking) was deficient at this medical university. Education in sexual health issues needs to be increased to positively influence students’ knowledge of and consequently their confidence regarding dealing with patients’ sexual health concerns.Komlenac N, Siller H, Hochleitner M. Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical University. Sex Med 2019;7:318–325. Key Words: Medical Education, Austria, Medical Students, Knowledge About Sexual Medicine, Beliefs About Sexual Functioning, Sexuality Educationhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2050116119300443 |
| spellingShingle | Nikola Komlenac, PhD Heidi Siller, PhD Margarethe Hochleitner, MD Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical University Sexual Medicine |
| title | Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical University |
| title_full | Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical University |
| title_fullStr | Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical University |
| title_full_unstemmed | Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical University |
| title_short | Medical Students Indicate the Need for Increased Sexuality Education at an Austrian Medical University |
| title_sort | medical students indicate the need for increased sexuality education at an austrian medical university |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2050116119300443 |
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