HIV Insight: Women's Communication Self-Efficacy & Expectations of Primary Male Partners' Cooperation in Sexually Transmitted Infection Treatment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

BACKGROUND:

Effective control of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) depends on affected patients notifying their sexual partners, and partners following through with screening and treatment. Our study assessed high-risk-STI women's confidence in STI-diagnosis-related communications with their primary male partners in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and determined associated characteristics of the women and their partners.

METHODS:

We employed convenience and snowball sampling in a clinic-based setting to recruit 126 women from August to October 2013. All data were obtained from women's self-report.

RESULTS:

The proportions of participants who were "slightly confident" or "very confident" that they could disclose their STI positivity to partners, ask partners to have an STI examination or treatment, and give partners bacterial-STI medications were 70.3 %, 62.1 %, and 69.0 %, respectively. The proportions who perceived that their partners would be "very likely" to have an STI examination and to take STI medications were 16.2 % and 38.8 %, respectively. Significantly lower self-efficacy was observed in women who had a lower education level, who had ever traded sex, or whose primary partners were not husbands or fiancés.

CONCLUSIONS:

Our results suggest potential for piloting STI-partner-targeted interventions. To be effective, these programs should improve women's self-efficacy and primary partners' cooperation with screening and treatment.

Participants’ self-efficacy in STI-diagnosis-related communications and perceived likelihood of primary male partners’ cooperation

Main variable	No.	%
Participants’ self-efficacy in disclosing their STI positivity to primary male partner (n = 118)
Not confident at all	20	17.0
Slightly not confident	4	3.4
So-so	11	9.3
Slightly confident	15	12.7
Very confident	68	57.6
Participants’ self-efficacy in asking primary male partner to have an STI examination (n = 116)
Not confident at all	19	16.4
Slightly not confident	7	6.0
So-so	18	15.5
Slightly confident	19	16.4
Very confident	53	45.7
Participants’ self-efficacy in giving medications for STI treatment to primary male partner (n = 116)
Not confident at all	5	4.3
Slightly not confident	5	4.3
So-so	26	22.4
Slightly confident	35	30.2
Very confident	45	38.8
Primary male partners’ likelihood to get an STI examination (n = 105)
Not likely at all	20	19.1
Unlikely	15	14.3
Maybe	26	24.8
Likely	27	25.7
Very likely	17	16.2
Primary male partners’ likelihood to take medications for STI treatment given by the participants (n = 116)
Not likely at all	5	4.3
Unlikely	5	4.3
Maybe	26	22.4
Likely	35	30.2
Very likely	45	38.8
Primary male partners’ frequency of accompanying participants to gynecological clinics (n = 89)a
Never	48	53.9
< 1/2 the time	18	20.2
= 1/2 the time	7	7.9
> 1/2 the time	7	7.9
Every time	9	10.1

aAmong those who had previously visited a gynecology clinic due to an STI symptom

Full article at: http://goo.gl/dUvRMP

By: Tran LT1, Bui TC2, Markham CM3, Swartz MD4, Tran QM5, Nyitray AG6, Huynh TT7, Hwang LY8.

1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (https://sph.uth.edu/), Houston, TX, USA. Ly.T.Tran@uth.tmc.edu.
2Department of Behavioral Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA. tcbui@mdanderson.org.
3Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Christine.Markham@uth.tmc.edu.
4Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Michael.D.Swartz@uth.tmc.edu.
5Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. tranminhquan12332192@gmail.com.
6Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Alan.G.Nyitray@uth.tmc.edu.
7Tu Du Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. thuthuy_bstudu@yahoo.com.vn.
8Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Lu-Yu.Hwang@uth.tmc.edu.