Brief behavioural skills building intervention for female controlled methods of STD-HIV prevention: outcomes of a randomized clinical field trial

Abstract

The need for female controlled methods for preventing HIV infection is well recognized and women have been found to accept the female condom for these purposes. Women (n = 105) were randomly assigned to receive either (a) a 3-h behavioural skills building intervention that concentrated on educating women about the female condom, motivating female condom use, and building behavioural skills relevant to using the female condom, or (b) a time-matched broadly defined women's health education intervention. Women who received the female controlled skills building intervention used the female condom to a greater extent than did women in the health education condition. Importantly, the effects of the behavioural skills intervention were most pronounced for women who reported only one male sex partner in the previous 6 months compared to women with multiple sex partners. However, female condom use was modest, with only one in 5 vaginal intercourse acts being protected by female condoms among women with one partner who received skills training. Interventions are needed to further enhance use of the female condom and new female controlled methods are needed for the majority of women at risk who did not adopt the female condom.

PIP: This study examines the adoption of the female condom, a female-controlled method of HIV/sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevention, using a randomized clinical study design. Samples included 105 African-American women, with average age of 31.5 years. The women were randomly assigned to receive either a 3-hour behavioral skills building intervention that concentrated on educating women about the female condom or a time-matched broadly defined women's health education intervention. The result shows that 88% of women reported having seen a female condom at some time in the past, 20% reported having used a female condom. An apparent novelty effect of the female condom was observed where women with one male partner used female condoms during relatively few acts of intercourse. Skill building intervention increased use of a female controlled method of HIV/STI and unintended pregnancy prevention.