Chinese adolescents' sexual and reproductive health education: A quasi-experimental study.
Xing Ma, Yuanyuan Yang, Ka Ming Chow and 1 others
PMID 33949703WHAT IT FOUND
An interactive sexual health program delivered by nurses improved Chinese middle school students' sexual knowledge more than self-study, and the gain held one month later.
Key findings
01Students in the interactive program had larger increases in sexual knowledge than students in the self-study group, and the interactive group's knowledge did not fall back by one month.
02The interactive group also improved more than the self-study group in sexual attitudes and refusal self-efficacy.
03The self-study group's sexual knowledge improved immediately after the materials but decreased by one month.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study assigned whole classes by availability and a coin toss, not students individually. The nurses who delivered the program knew which group students were in, so delivery and assessment may have been influenced. The program combined lectures, quizzes, group discussions, videos, and separate boys and girls sessions, so the study cannot show which component mattered. The study followed students only for one month. The study did not assess actual romantic or sexual behaviours, so it does not show whether the program reduced sexual risk, STIs, or pregnancy. Participants were students in grades 7 and 8 at two branches of one middle school in a sexually conservative city, and grade 9 students were excluded, so results may not apply to older adolescents or other settings.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that nurse delivery alone caused the improvement. The program combined nurse-led lectures, quizzes, group discussions, videos, and separate boys and girls sessions, and the study did not test these components separately.