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Break the Silence: Knowledge and Attitude Towards Sexual and Reproductive Health Among Egyptian Youth

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Abstract

Sexual health and education are rarely investigated in the Middle East countries, including Egypt. We performed the current study to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and behaviors towards sexual health practices among Egyptian youth. A self-administered questionnaire was translated from English to Arabic. After pilot-testing, the eligible population was invited to fill it online. Nine-hundred and fifty-five participants filled the questionnaire (53% males and 88.5% single). Around 61% of the participants were of the opinion that sexual education is necessary and rejected the notion that sexual education is religiously prohibited. Only 26% discussed sex-related matters with a parent. Although over 80% think that masturbation is either prohibited, wrong or medically harmful, 62% have masturbated before. Living with parents was not associated with less masturbation (p = 0.23). Moreover, although 85% of the participants think that watching pornography is either wrong or prohibited, 74% have watched porn clips before (significantly more frequent among males: p < 0.0001). A quarter of the responders indicated that they have been touched by a stranger/relative against their will. In conclusion, the majority of surveyed Egyptian youth expressed unfavorable attitudes towards masturbation and watching pornography -despite being quite common- and supported the importance of sexual education.

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Data Availability

All collected data will be made available online in a specific dataset (Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors among Egyptian Adolescents Database: SABEAD) for further analysis and data collection by other researchers.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the members of Al-Azhar Medical Students’ Association (AMSA), Benha Students’ Scientific Society (BSSS), Kena Medical Students' Association (KMSA), Mansoura Students' Scientific Association (MSSA), October Students’ Scientific Society (OSSS), and Menofia Students’ Scientific Association (MSSA). Collaborators of the SABEAD Study: (Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt: Zainab Mohammed, Alaa ElHady, Ebtehal Mahmoud, Menna Ahmed, Amany Eissa), (Faculty of Medicine, South valley University, Qena, Egypt: Kerollos Hany Shaker, Ahmed Montaser Elkady, Meryhan Youssef Mohammed, Amira Nagy Mohamed, Nashwa Sayed Gumaa), (Faculty of Medicine, Menofia University, Menofia, Egypt: Ahmed Assar, Shrouk Ahmed Elfeshawy), (Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt: Shazaa Elsheikh), (Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt: Nourhan Ashraf) and (Faculty of Medicine, October 6 University, Giza, Egypt: Cindrella Samy) contributed to data collection and management in this project.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations –Egypt (IFMSA – Egypt), Alexandria, Egypt

    Amr Menshawy, Esraa Ghanem, Mahmoud Senna, Nadia Lotfy, Mohamed Abdel-Maboud, Ahmed Elmaraezy & Mohammed Yasser Elsherbeny

  2. Al-Azhar Medical Students’ Association (AMSA), Cairo, Egypt

    Amr Menshawy, Esraa Ghanem, Mahmoud Senna, Nadia Lotfy, Mohamed Abdel-Maboud & Ahmed Elmaraezy

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt

    Amr Menshawy, Esraa Ghanem, Mahmoud Senna, Nadia Lotfy, Mohamed Abdel-Maboud & Ahmed Elmaraezy

  4. Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Ramsis St, Cairo, 11566, Egypt

    Abdelrahman Ibrahim Abushouk

  5. Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt

    Mohammed Yasser Elsherbeny

Authors
  1. Amr Menshawy
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  2. Abdelrahman Ibrahim Abushouk
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  3. Esraa Ghanem
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  4. Mahmoud Senna
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  5. Nadia Lotfy
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  6. Mohamed Abdel-Maboud
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  7. Ahmed Elmaraezy
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  8. Mohammed Yasser Elsherbeny
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Consortia

the SABEAD Study group

  • Zainab Mohammed
  • , Alaa ElHady
  • , Ebtehal Mahmoud
  • , Menna Ahmed
  • , Amany Eissa
  • , Kerollos Hany Shaker
  • , Ahmed Montaser Elkady
  • , Meryhan Youssef Mohammed
  • , Amira Nagy Mohamed
  • , Nashwa Sayed Gumaa
  • , Ahmed Assar
  • , Shrouk Ahmed Elfeshawy
  • , Shazaa Elsheikh
  • , Nourhan Ashraf
  •  & Cindrella Samy

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abdelrahman Ibrahim Abushouk.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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The collaborators of the SABEAD Study are listed in acknowlegements section.

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Menshawy, A., Abushouk, A.I., Ghanem, E. et al. Break the Silence: Knowledge and Attitude Towards Sexual and Reproductive Health Among Egyptian Youth. Community Ment Health J 57, 238–246 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00641-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-020-00641-4

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