Attitudes towards vasectomy and its acceptance as a method of contraception among clinical-year medical students in a Malaysian private medical college

• DOI: 10.11622/smedj.2018065
• Publication Date: 2018-06-07T02:23:32Z
• Authors: S Ohn Mar; O Ali; S Sandheep; Z Husayni; M Zuhri
• Keywords: Adult; Male; Students, Medical; Attitude of Health Personnel; 4. Education; Religion and Medicine; Malaysia; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Contraception; Cross-Sectional Studies; 0302 clinical medicine; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vasectomy; Humans; Female; Schools, Medical

This study explored attitudes towards vasectomy and its acceptance as a method of contraception among clinical-year medical students, and determined the association between their demographic characteristics, and attitudes and acceptance.A cross-sectional survey was conducted among clinical-year medical students from a Malaysian private medical college using a self-administered questionnaire.There were 330 participants with a female preponderance and a mean age of 22.0 ± 1.1 years. The largest proportion of respondents were from Year 3. The vast majority were ethnically Malay (91.8%) and followed Islam (92.4%). Overall, 60.9% of participants had a positive attitude towards vasectomy and 76.0% showed good acceptance. Gender, academic year, ethnicity and religion variables were not associated with attitudes and acceptance (p > 0.05). A significantly higher proportion of male respondents thought that vasectomy was religiously forbidden and would give a bad impression. A significantly higher proportion of Year 5 students agreed to the statement 'I would recommend vasectomy to relatives, friends and people close to me' compared to Year 3 and 4 students.Students' perception of vasectomy as a contraceptive method was encouraging. Our results suggest that their knowledge improved as medical training progressed, and attitudes evolved for the better irrespective of their traditional, cultural and religious beliefs - highlighting the importance of providing students with evidence-based learning about male sterilisation, which is more cost-effective and is associated with lower morbidity than female sterilisation. A qualitative study involving students from different ethnicities and religions would provide a better understanding of this subject.