Introduction:
New
infections of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remain a big problem in many
countries. Different interventions have been implemented to improve the general
knowledge of HIV, with the hypothesis that increasing HIV knowledge will reduce
risky sexual behavior (RSB). However, HIV knowledge may not necessarily reduce
RSB. This study explores HIV knowledge and its effect on RSB.
Methods:
The study used
data from the 2005 and 2010 Rwanda Demographic and Health Surveys to analyze
the association between HIV risk factors and two types of RSB (having two or
more partners in the past 12 months; and among those with two or more partners,
not using a condom at last sex) and the association between HIV knowledge and
those RSB. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine predictors of
RSB.
Results:
Among 2,773 men
in 2005 and 3,772 men in 2010, 5% and 7% respectively reported having two or
more sexual partners. Among them, 93% in 2005 and 74% in 2010 did not use a
condom at the last sex. Between 2005 and 2010, knowledge of the protective
effect of having just one uninfected faithful partner, and basic knowledge of
HIV decreased. Knowledge of the protective effect of using condoms increased
from 90% to 94%. However, HIV knowledge was not associated with either type of
RSB.
Conclusion:
In setting
up policies and strategies related to HIV prevention, policymakers should
consider that focusing on HIV knowledge is not sufficient in itself.
Below: Factors model for predicting risky sexual behavior among men
Below: Percentage of men who had two types of risky sexual behavior
Full article at: http://goo.gl/jw0E4X
By:
1School of Public Health, College of Medicine and
Health Sciences, University of Rwanda
Manassé Nzayirambaho, School of Public Health, College of
Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv_insight
No comments:
Post a Comment