Assessment of Knowledge and Attitudes regarding reproductive health among female college students in Basra City

Background: Reproductive health includes responsible, satisfying, and reproductive well-being. It's a crucial component of general health and reflects well-being during adolescence and adulthood. The more aware individuals are of reproductive health issues, the more stable families can be formed, capable of building a better future. Objectives: Assessing the knowledge and attitude of female college students regarding reproductive health and to determine the social and demographic factors of the female students that may be associated with their knowledge and attitude. Methodology: A descriptive study was conducted to assess the level of knowledge about reproductive health among 387 female college students from five colleges in Al-Basrah city. The data was collected by direct interview using a constructed questionnaire to obtain socio-demographic characteristics and the level of knowledge related to reproductive health. Results: The results show that the age range of the studied female students was 18 - 24 years, with a mean of 20.82 ±1.63years. This study shows that students' knowledge of all the domains of reproductive health was poor level, with an overall knowledge level of 2.8%, with a mean score (19.27± 6.35. There was a significant association between the students’ knowledge and their socioeconomic status in all components of reproductive health. Attitudes were consistent across sociodemographic variables, including college attendance, year of study, place of residence, and household composition. Conclusions: The present study concluded that overall, students ‘Knowledge of reproductive health among female college students was at a poor level, and the majority of females had a neutral attitude.