Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a face-to-face education session on women’s health topics to improve comfort among college female athletes when discussing women’s health topics with coaches, athletic trainers, and primary care physicians. A secondary purpose was to assess the effectiveness of the education session on college female athletes’ perceived knowledge of topics related to women’s health. Methods: A total of 44 female collegiate student athletes competing at an NCAA Division II institution consented to and participated in this study as a convenience sample (age= 20 ± 1 years). Immediately prior to the education session, participants completed an electronic survey intended to obtain informed consent, demographic information, previous healthcare, and education related to women’s health topics, and information about perceived knowledge and comfort related to women’s health topics. Participants then listened to a 60-minute presentation by two Texas licensed physicians that covered women’s health topics including: the phases of the menstrual cycle, the importance of an individual tracking their menstrual cycle, relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S), the risks and benefits of different forms of birth control, sexually transmitted infections, when to begin seeking care from a gynecologist, general nutrition recommendations, and mental health concerns. Following the education session, participants completed a second electronic survey that included questions for demographic and survey matching purposes, obtaining information about how well the education session was received, and obtaining information about perceived knowledge and comfort level related to women’s health topics. Paired samples t-tests were performed to determine differences in perceived knowledge and comfort discussing women’s health topics before and after the education session. Cohen’s d-tests were run to determine effect sizes of significant differences. Results: Significant improvements were found in participants’ comfort when discussing women’s health with their coach (before = 3.14 ± 1.29, after = 2.68 ± 1.57, p = .003), athletic trainer (before = 2.68 ± 1.22, after = 2.18 ± 1.42, p < .001), and primary care physician (before = 2.25 ± 0.53, after = 1.80 ± 0.93, p = .002). The highest magnitudes of effect among significant findings related to perceived knowledge related to women’s health topics were found in improved perceived knowledge of knowing who to talk to about women’s health concerns (before = 3.05 ± 1.06, after = 2.07 ± 1.04, p < .001, d = .849) and knowledge of different birth control methods (before = 3.86 ± 1.46, after = 2.16 ± 1.14, p < .001, d = 1.007), and decreased perceived knowledge of being able to explain RED-S (before = 2.16 ± 1.10, after = 5.18 ± 1.11, p < .001). Conclusions: The current study found that a face-to-face intervention with an in-person education session had a significant impact on perceived knowledge and comfort discussing women’s health topics among NCAA Division II female athletes. These findings suggest that use of face-to-face education sessions may help improve female athletes’ understanding of their knowledge of women’s health. Furthermore, such sessions may help improve female athletes’ comfort seeking women’s health advice from coaches, athletic trainers, and physicians.
Recommended Citation
Skowron P, Kaur R, Cage S, Wadle C, Trail L, Warner LK, et al. Impact of an Education Session on Improving Female Collegiate Athletes’ Comfort with Women’s Health Topics. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. 2025 Jan 17;23(1), Article 3.
