Original Study Gynecologic Knowledge Is Low in College Men and Women William Volck BA 1 , Zachary A. Ventress BA 2 , Debby Herbenick PhD, MPH 3 , Paula J. Adams Hillard MD 4 , Jill S. Huppert MD, MPH 2, * 1 Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 2 Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 3 The Center for Sexual Health Promotion, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 4 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California abstract Study Objective: Although men may influence women’s reproductive choices, little is known about men’s knowledge regarding gynecologic matters (eg, sex, anatomy, and contraception). This study aimed to evaluate the level of gynecologic knowledge among college students, particularly to investigate the differences in knowledge between men and women. Design, Setting, Participants: We administered a survey to assess knowledge of sex, contraception, and female anatomy to college students at a Midwestern university during the spring 2010 semester. Interventions and Main Outcome Measures: The survey included demographic and behavioral questions, 9 general gynecology knowledge items, and 11 female anatomy items. A total gynecology score was generated by summing the correct responses to 20 items. Results: The 236 respondents included 98 men and 138 women (aged 18-36 years). Women scored higher than men on 19 of 20 individual items, with mean total scores of 13.4 vs 10.1 (P ! .01). There was a trend for gynecologic knowledge to be higher among those who reported having had been STI tested (P 5 .13), and whose parents had discussed anatomy with them (P 5 .07). In multivariable modeling, being male was associated with lower mean knowledge scores, whereas increasing age and having a parent who discussed anatomy were associated with greater knowledge scores, even while controlling for having a gynecologist parent, multiple sexual partners, and prior STI testing. Conclusions: College men have lower gynecologic knowledge than women. Increasing age and having a parent who discussed anatomy with them served as predictors of higher knowledge scores. Because men influence women’s reproductive choices, efforts to increase men’s knowledge are needed. Key Words: Reproductive health, Students, Gynecology, Public health, Anatomy Introduction Reproductive health knowledge, including knowledge of anatomy, sexually transmitted infection (STI) and contra- ception, is largely categorized as “gynecologic” information. Classifying such issues as “gynecologic” is thought to target young women’s interests, but may also limit opportunities to advance male sex education. A recent editorial laments the lack of published reproductive health studies that include men. 1 A Swedish study including 13e25 year old students found that women scored higher on a questionnaire focusing on the anatomy and physiology of reproduction. 2 Most other published studies report contraceptive knowl- edge and sexual attitudes, rather than knowledge of anatomy, and included samples from Europe and Asia. 3e5 One study in the United States (US) examined contracep- tive knowledge and behaviors among unmarried adults aged 18e29 years, and found that women scored much higher than men. 6 In addition, a survey conducted by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy revealed a surprising lack of accurate knowledge of contraception and fertility that the authors believe underlies the gap between desire to prevent pregnancy and actual prevention behaviors. 7 However, we could find no published studies that included knowledge of gynecologic anatomy among young men or women in the United States. Two recent studies demonstrate that men influence their partner’s attitudes and decision to use contraceptives. 8,9 As pediatric and adolescent gynecology specialists, 2 authors (J.S.H., P.J.A.H.) have encountered instances where a male partner subverted a young woman’s plan for contraception or STI prevention. We hypothesized that young men lack adequate knowledge of sex, anatomy, and contraception, which we termed “gynecologic” knowledge, which is an important prerequisite to understanding contraception. This deficit might be alleviated by informed parents; in particular, we hypothesized that a parent who was a physician or gynecologist might more accurately teach “gynecologic” knowledge to their children than other parents. Alternatively, men and women might acquire knowledge with increasing age or sexual experience. This study aims to address a gap in our current understanding of men in regards to reproductive health by assessing the overall level of gynecologic knowledge among college students, comparing gynecologic knowledge between men and women, and elucidating other predictors of gynecologic knowledge. The authors indicate no conflicts of interest. * Address correspondence to: Jill S. Huppert, MD, MPH, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue e MLC 2026, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039; Phone: (513) 636-7042; fax: (513) 636-0166 E-mail address: jill.huppert@cchmc.org (J.S. Huppert). 1083-3188/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpag.2012.12.004