Attitudes towards vasectomy and its acceptance as a method of contraception among clinical-year medical students in a Malaysian private medical college.

INTRODUCTION: This study explored the attitudes towards vasectomy and its acceptance as a method of contraception among clinical-year medical students, and determined the association between their demographic characteristics, and attitudes and acceptance.

METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among clinical-year medical students from a Malaysian private medical college using a self-administered questionnaire.

RESULTS: Among 330 participants with a female preponderance, mean age was 22.0 ± 1.1 years. The largest proportion of respondents was from Year 3. A vast majority (91.8%) were ethnically Malay and followed Islam (92.4%). Overall, 61.0% of participants exhibited positive attitude and 76.0% displayed good acceptance towards vasectomy. Gender, academic year, ethnicity and religion variables were not associated with attitudes and acceptance (p > 0.05). A significantly higher proportion of male respondents thought that vasectomy was religiously forbidden and entailed a bad impression for the person. A significantly higher proportion of Year 5 students agreed to the statement 'I would recommend vasectomy to relatives, friends and people close to me' compared to Year 3 and Year 4 students.

CONCLUSION: Students' perception of vasectomy as a contraceptive method was encouraging. Our results suggest that their knowledge improved as medical training progressed, and attitudes evolved for the better irrespective of their traditional, cultural and religious beliefs - highlighting the importance of providing students with evidence-based learning about male sterilisation, which is more cost-effective and less morbid than female sterilisation. A future qualitative study involving students from different ethnicities and religions would provide a better understanding of this subject.