Investigation on adolescent sexual knowledge among primaryschool students in Hangzhou City / 预防医学

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the awareness of adolescent sexual knowledge among primary school students in Hangzhou City, so as to provide insights into adolescent sex education.@*Methods@#In May 2021, grades 5 and 6 students were sampled from 5 primary schools in urban areas and 5 primary schools in suburban areas of Hangzhou City. The demographic features, awareness of adolescent sexual knowledge and sources of acquiring adolescent sexual knowledge were investigated using electronic questionnaires, and the awareness of adolescent sexual knowledge were analyzed among primary school students.@*Results@#Totally 1 812 students completed valid questionnaires, including 861 grade 5 students ( 47.52% ) and 951 grade 6 students ( 52.48% ), 936 boys ( 53.86% ) and 836 girls (46.14%), and 912 students living in urban areas (50.33%) and 900 students living in suburban areas ( 49.67% ). The awareness rates of adolescent physiological knowledge, adolescent health knowledge, private parts and sexual harassment behaviors were 53.20%, 46.30%, 60.49% and 92.55%, respectively, and the awareness rates of adolescent physiological knowledge ( 69.52% vs. 39.14%; χ2=168.001), adolescent health knowledge (55.74% vs. 38.22%; χ2=55.619 ), private parts ( 72.49% vs. 50.20%; χ2=93.550 ) and sexual harassment behaviors ( 96.05% vs. 89.55%; χ2=27.621 ) were significantly higher in girls than in boys ( all P<0.05 ). The awareness rates of adolescent physiological knowledge ( 63.72% vs. 41.58%; χ2=88.989 ), private parts ( 64.56% vs. 55.98%; χ2=13.926 ) and sexual harassment behaviors ( 93.80% vs. 91.17%; χ2=4.509 ) were significantly greater among grade 6 students than among grade 5 students ( all P<0.05 ), and the awareness rates of adolescent physiological knowledge ( 69.96% vs. 36.22%; χ2=207.041 ), adolescent health knowledge (58.99% vs. 33.44%; χ2=118.903 ) and sexual harassment behaviors ( 96.16% vs. 88.89%; χ2=34.754 ) were significantly higher among students living in urban areas than among students living in suburban areas ( all P<0.05 ). Primary school students mainly acquired sexual knowledge from their parents ( 1 208 students, 66.67% ) and teachers ( 1 161 students, 64.07%), and the source of life was the predominant demand for sexual knowledge ( 969 students, 53.48% ).@*Conclusions@#The awareness of adolescent sexual knowledge remains to be increased among grade 5 and 6 primary school students in Hangzhou City. More attention paid to male students and students living in suburban areas, and building a school-family-community educational network are recommended to increase the awareness of adolescent sexual knowledge among primary school students.