Can Reproductive Life Plan-based counselling increase men’s fertility awareness?

Figures & data

Figure 1. CONSORT flowchart.

Table 1. Characteristics at baseline of men in the intervention group (IG) and the control group (CG).

	IG (n = 106) (%)	CG (n = 95) (%)	Total (n = 201) (%)
Age
Years; mean ± SD	28.5 ± 6.7	28.3 ± 5.6	28.4 ± 6.2
Level of education (highest completed)
Primary school	3.8	3.2	3.5
Secondary school	50.0	49.4	49.7
University	46.2	47.4	46.8
Country of birth
Sweden	85.7	84.2	85.0
Other European	3.8	9.5	6.5
Non-European	10.5	6.3	8.5
Type of relationship^a
Main partner	35.6	42.6	38.9
Regular sexual partner	18.3	14.9	16.7
Casual known	26.0	25.5	25.8
Casual unknown	14.4	6.4	10.6
No partner	22.1	20.2	21.2
Reproductive history
Contraceptive method used at latest sexual encounter^a
None	25.5	24.5	25.5
Coitus interruptus/safe period	9.4	8.5	9.0
Condom	48.1	46.8	47.5
IUD	12.3	12.8	12.5
Birth control pill/NuvaRing/p-rod	29.2	27.7	28.5
Don’t know	2.8	2.1	2.5
Never had sex	0	1.1	0.5
History of sexually transmitted infection
Yes	44.3	33.7	39.3
No	55.7	65.3	60.2
Don’t know	0	1.1	0.5
History of conception
Yes, several times	14.3	9.5	12.0
Yes, once	24.8	17.9	21.5
No	61.0	72.6	66.5
Difficulties conceiving	1.9	0	1.0
History of abortion	25.7	21.1	23.5
History of miscarriage	4.7	5.3	5.0
History of childbirth	13.2	7.4	10.4

^a Several options could be chosen.

Table 2. Distribution of knowledge scores and awareness of lifestyle factors in the IG and the CG, at baseline and follow-up.

		IG			CG
		Baseline (n = 104)	Follow-up (n = 79)	P value	Baseline (n = 94)	Follow-up (n = 81)	P value
1. Knowledge score	Mean	4.6	5.5	0.004	4.6	4.7	ns
	Median	5	6		5	4
	Min–max	0–10	0–11		1–9	0–10
		(n = 106)	(n = 79)		(n = 95)	(n = 82)
2. Lifestyle factors	Mean	3.6	4.4	<0.001	3.3	3.5	ns
	Median	3	5		3	3
	Min–max	0–7	0–8		0–9	0–7

ns = non-significant.

Figure 2. Percentage of participants aware of specific lifestyle factors that can affect male fertility, baseline measurement (n = 201).

Table 3. Assessment of the RLP-based counselling by 78 men in the IG.

Question	n (%)
Had previously thought about the matters of fertility discussed during the intervention
Not at all	21 (27)
Fairly little	27 (35)
Neither little nor much	18 (23)
Fairly much	10 (13)
Much	2 (2)
Information during counselling perceived as new
Nothing	2 (3)
Fairly little	5 (6)
Neither little nor much	11 (14)
Fairly much	48 (62)
Much	12 (15)
Experience of being asked about RLP by a nurse-midwife
Very negative	1 (1)
Fairly negative	1 (1)
Neither negative nor positive	17 (22)
Fairly positive	23 (30)
Very positive	36 (46)
The consultation raised new thoughts about fertility
To a very small extent	14 (18)
To a fairly small extent	23 (29)
Neither small nor large extent	19 (24)
To a fairly large extent	18 (23)
To a very large extent	4 (5)
The consultation led to a search for more information about fertility
No	53 (68)
Yes	25 (32)
Likelihood of consulting a nurse-midwife if questions about fertility arise
Very unlikely	8 (10)
Fairly unlikely	8 (10)
Neither likely nor unlikely	11 (14)
Fairly likely	25 (33)
Very likely	25 (33)
Perceived importance of educating young men about fertility and factors that can affect a healthy pregnancy
Very unimportant	1 (1)
Fairly unimportant	2 (3)
Neither unimportant nor important	1 (1)
Fairly important	23 (30)
Very important	51 (65)