Extra-Curricular Activities Improved Reproductive Health Knowledge of Ethnic Minority High School Students in Vietnam

Mai Van Hung; Duong Van Khoa; Hoang Quy Tinh; Trinh Hai Thuy; Nguyen Phuc Hung

Extra-Curricular Activities Improved Reproductive Health Knowledge of Ethnic Minority High School Students in Vietnam

J Family Reprod Health. 2019 Jun;13(2):80-84.

Authors

Mai Van Hung¹, Duong Van Khoa², Hoang Quy Tinh³, Trinh Hai Thuy⁴, Nguyen Phuc Hung⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Science Education, Center for Anthropology and Mind Development, Department of Science Education, VNU University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam.
² Faculty of Politic Theory - Civic Education, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam.
³ Faculty of Early Childhood Education, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam.
⁴ Ethnic Minority High School, Dien Bien Dong District, Dienbien Province, Vietnam.
⁵ Centre for Reproductive Health Education and Family Planning, Faculty of Biology, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam.

PMID: 31988643
PMCID: PMC6969890

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of extra-curricular activities in improving reproductive health knowledge of ethnic minority students in mountainous areas in Vietnam. Materials and methods: The study was conducted on 400 ethnic minority students at Dien Bien Dong Ethnic Minority High School in Vietnam. The selected healthy students with a similar mix of study results and grades were divided into two groups: a control group had no the extra-curricular activities on reproductive health, and an experimental group participated extra-curricular activities on reproductive health. The extra-curricular activities were designed as a series of seminars on numerous reproductive health contents. The retention of reproductive health knowledge was then evaluated by a test containing multiple-choice and single-choice questions. Results: Results showed that the percentage of students who did not correctly understand puberty signs, ovulation time during menstrual cycle, contraceptive method use and sexually transmitted diseases in the control group ranged from 34.5% - 83.5%. Despite the fact that the ethnic minority high school students' knowledge of reproductive health was poor, the percentage of students who fully understood puberty signs, ovulation time during menstrual cycle, contraceptive method use and sexually transmitted diseases significantly increased and reached at least 90% after attending extra-curricular activities on reproductive health (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The ethnic minority high school students' knowledge of reproductive health was relatively poor. Extra-curricular activities markedly increased the knowledge of many reproductive health aspects. These findings suggest that it is necessary to improve the knowledge of reproductive health for ethnic minority high school students in mountainous areas in Vietnam, and that extra-curricular activities organized as seminars are effective and suitable to provide and retain students' knowledge of reproductive health.

Keywords: Ethnic Minority; Extra-Curricular Activity; High School; Reproductive Health.