Jan 27, 2014 01:50 PM EST By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

There are "significant gaps" in women's knowledge about the important aspects of their reproductive health, according to a recent study The Huffington Post reported.

Researchers from Yale University found that many women of reproductive age in the United States hold on to misguided or false beliefs about their reproductive systems, including misunderstandings about fertility and conception.

"The most depressing, most concerning part was the level of unawareness amongst young women about their own biology," study author Lubna Pal, associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at the Yale University School of Medicine, told Fox News. 

The study, which is based on an online anonymized survey given to women between the ages of 18 and 40, found that more than 25 percent of reproductive-age women were unaware of the adverse implications of sexually transmitted infections, obesity, smoking, or irregular menses on fertility.

They also found that one-fifth of women surveyed were unaware if the adverse effects of aging on reproductive success, including increased miscarriage rates, chromosomal abnormalities, and increased length of time to achieve conception.

It also showed that about half of reproductive-age women had never discussed their reproductive health with a medical provider and about 30% visited their reproductive health provider less than once a year or never, according to a press release.

"This study, on one hand, brings to the forefront gaps in women's knowledge about their reproductive health, and on the other, highlights women's concerns that are often not discussed with health providers," senior author Jessica Illuzzi, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine, said in a statement. "It is important that these conversations happen in this ever-changing family landscape."

The study was recently published in the journal Fertility & Sterility.

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