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. 2018 Sep 24;18(1):1137.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-6039-8.

Predictors of male condom use among sexually active heterosexual young women in South Africa, 2012

Thobani Ntshiqa  1   2   3 , Alfred Musekiwa  4 , Mandla Mlotshwa  5   6 , Kerry Mangold  7 , Carl Reddy  5 , Seymour Williams  5   4   8
Affiliations

Predictors of male condom use among sexually active heterosexual young women in South Africa, 2012

Thobani Ntshiqa et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: In South Africa, young women are at disproportionate risk of HIV infection with about 2363 new infections per week in 2015. Proper condom use is one of the most effective HIV/AIDS prevention strategies among sexually active persons. Understanding factors associated with male condom use in this key population group is important to curb the spread of HIV. This study determined practices and predictors of male condom use among sexually active young women in South Africa.

Methods: The 2012 National HIV Communication Survey measured the extent of exposure to communication activities for HIV prevention among men and women aged 16-55 years in South Africa. We performed a secondary data analysis on a subset of this survey, focussing on 1031 women aged 16-24 years who reported having had sex in the past 12 months. We determined predictors of male condom use using the unconditional multivariable logistic regression model.

Results: Of the 1031 young women, 595 (57.8%) reported using a male condom at last sex, 68.4% in women aged 16-19 years and 54.5% in women aged 20-24 years (p < 0.001). Delayed sexual debut [20 years or above] (Adjusted Odds Ratio [aOR] 2.1, 95% CI: 1.2 to 3.7, p = 0.006); being a student (aOR 1.6, 95% CI: 1.2 to 2.3, p = 0.005); and exposure to HIV communication programmes (aOR 3.1, 95% CI: 1.2 to 8.6, p = 0.025) were significantly associated with male condom use at last sex.

Conclusion: Male condom use was a common practice among young women and was associated with delayed sexual debut and exposure to HIV communication programmes. Behavioral interventions and HIV communication programmes should therefore encourage young women to delay initiation of sex and promote usage of male condoms.

Keywords: Condom use; HIV prevention; Predictor; Sexually active; South Africa; Young women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The 2012 National HIV Communication Survey was approved by the University of Witwatersrand Human Research Ethics Committee (Non-Medical) (H110701) and the Institutional Review Board of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health [17]. Ethical approval for the secondary data analysis presented in this study was granted by the Center for Global Health at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and University of Pretoria Research Ethics Committee (180/2015) and no informed consent was required as this study is a secondary data analysis. The Deputy Director of Monitoring and Evaluation Research at Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa (JHHESA) granted the permission to conduct this study and access the 2012 National HIV Communication Survey data.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Male condom use at last sex by province among the sexually active young women aged 16–24 years, National HIV Communication Survey, South Africa, 2012
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Male condom use at last sex by sexual behavioral practices among the sexually active young women aged 16–24 years, National HIV Communication Survey, South Africa, 2012
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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