Table 4. Summary of students’ previous knowledge regarding public health topics: (A) Did not know about the topic; (B) Did not learn about the topic in classes.
| (A) Did not know about the topic | (B) Did not learn about it in classes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (N = 545) | Sex (%) | p | Total (N = 545) | Sex (%) | P | |||
| Male (N = 192) | Female (N = 353) | Male (N = 192) | Female (N = 353) | |||||
| Nutrition and Physical Activity | ||||||||
| Lifestyle-related diseases | 46 (8.4) | 19 (9.9) | 27 (7.6) | .348 | 11 (2) | 7 (3.6) | 4 (1.1) | .044 |
| Food poisoning | 38 (7) | 15 (7.8) | 23 (6.5) | .570 | 21 (3.9) | 10 (5.2) | 11 (3.1) | .225 |
| Allergic reaction | 8 (1.5) | 6 (3.1) | 2 (0.6) | .018 | 7 (1.3) | 5 (2.6) | 2 (0.6) | .044 |
| Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs | ||||||||
| Health effect of smoking | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.5) | 0 (0) | NA | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | NA |
| Health hazard of passive smoking | 10 (1.8) | 1 (0.5) | 9 (2.5) | .092 | 5 (0.9) | 1 (0.5) | 4 (1.1) | .475 |
| Smoking effect on pregnancy | 31 (5.7) | 15 (7.8) | 16 (4.5) | .114 | 21 (3.9) | 8 (4.2) | 13 (3.7) | .779 |
| Dependence of smoking | 6 (1.1) | 1 (0.5) | 5 (1.4) | .341 | 2 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 2 (0.6) | |
| Health effect of e-cigarettes | 197 (36.1) | 63 (32.8) | 134 (38) | .223 | 175 (32.1) | 58 (30.2) | 117 (33.1) | .470 |
| Effect of alcohol consumption | 9 (1.7) | 4 (2.1) | 5 (1.4) | .554 | 4 (0.7) | 2 (1) | 2 (0.6) | .531 |
| Alcohol consumption effect on pregnancy | 39 (7.2) | 20 (10.4) | 19 (5.4) | .030 | 24 (4.4) | 11 (5.7) | 13 (3.7) | .269 |
| Mental/physical effect of mind-altering drugs | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.5) | 0 (0) | NA | 1 (0.2) | 1 (0.5) | 0 (0) | NA |
| Alcohol, smoking and drug addiction | 33 (6.1) | 12 (6.3) | 21 (5.9) | .888 | 17 (3.1) | 7 (3.6) | 10 (2.8) | .602 |
| Addiction | 117 (21.5) | 45 (23.4) | 72 (20.4) | .418 | 85 (15.6) | 31 (16.1) | 54 (15.3) | .805 |
| Growth, Development and Sexual Health | ||||||||
| Ovulation and menstruation | 17 (3.1) | 15 (7.8) | 2 (0.6) | < .001 | 8 (1.5) | 7 (3.6) | 1 (0.3) | .002 |
| Ejaculation | 21 (3.9) | 1 (0.5) | 20 (5.7) | .003 | 10 (1.8) | 1 (0.5) | 9 (2.5) | .094 |
| How to use condoms | 129 (23.7) | 15 (7.8) | 114 (32.3) | < .001 | 86 (15.8) | 10 (5.2) | 76 (21.5) | < .001 |
| Woman’s basal body temperature | 190 (34.9) | 103 (53.6) | 87 (24.6) | < .001 | 139 (25.5) | 76 (39.6) | 63 (17.8) | < .001 |
| Measurement of woman’s basal body temperature | 274 (50.3) | 128 (66.7) | 146 (41.4) | < .001 | 217 (39.8) | 106 (55.2) | 111 (31.4) | < .001 |
| Fertilization and pregnancy | 7 (1.3) | 3 (1.6) | 4 (1.1) | .666 | 2 (0.4) | 1 (0.5) | 1 (0.3) | .659 |
| Gestation period and childbirth | 67 (12.3) | 30 (15.6) | 37 (10.5) | .085 | 24 (4.4) | 15 (7.8) | 9 (2.5) | .004 |
| Public services related to pregnancy | 96 (17.6) | 44 (22.9) | 52 (14.7) | .015 | 63 (11.6) | 32 (16.7) | 31 (8.8) | .006 |
| Significance and importance of family planning | 155 (28.4) | 60 (31.3) | 95 (26.9) | .293 | 118 (21.7) | 43 (22.4) | 75 (21.2) | .768 |
| Abortion under Maternal Health Act in Japan | 98 (18) | 46 (24) | 52 (14.7) | .008 | 67 (12.3) | 35 (18.2) | 32 (9.1) | .002 |
| Sex and gender | 131 (24) | 33 (17.2) | 98 (27.8) | .005 | 105 (19.3) | 27 (14.1) | 78 (22.1) | .022 |
| LGBTQIA+ | 118 (21.7) | 41 (21.4) | 77 (21.8) | .862 | 96 (17.6) | 33 (17.2) | 63 (17.8) | .813 |
| Personal and Community Health | ||||||||
| Birth control pills and preventing sexually transmitted diseases | 206 (37.8) | 73 (38) | 133 (37.7) | .940 | 163 (29.9) | 58 (30.2) | 105 (29.7) | .913 |
| Prevention of sexually transmitted diseases | 28 (5.1) | 12 (6.3) | 16 (4.5) | .383 | 16 (2.9) | 8 (4.2) | 8 (2.3) | .208 |
| Vaccines | 26 (4.8) | 11 (5.7) | 15 (4.2) | .428 | 21 (3.9) | 9 (4.7) | 12 (3.4) | .445 |
NOTE: Values in parenthesis represent percentage of valid N for each category. Results are based on two-sided tests for comparison between sexes. The p-value threshold for significance was adjusted for multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni correction. The threshold for statistical significance was set at p < .05 (S1 File).