Sexual and reproductive health between male and female high school students: a descriptive study.

Resumen

To guarantee that adolescents have access to sexual and reproductive health, it is required to have effective information that allows them to exercise their sexual rights in a free and responsible way. The objective of the present study is to compare the level of perceived knowledge that male and female high school students possess about sexual and reproductive health. Methods: A transversal non-experimental convenience-sampling study was designed with 125 male and 184 female students between the ages of 14 and 15 years. The implemented instrument consists of 60 items evaluated in four dimensions in a Likert-type scale, with an internal consistency reliability that varies in every dimension between α=.641 to α=.842, the way of evaluating this instrument is by how much assurance the participants have about their responses. The data were analysed through contingency tables by using Pearson’s non-parametric chi-square test. Results: The obtained results reveal that there is no association between the variables of the study, identifying lack of awareness in both male and female students in sexual and reproductive health content. Conclusions: Incorporation of variables in future studies such as active sexual life and gender perspective are discussed, in addition to emphasizing the importance of sexual education in the school-family binomial.