The ABCs of HIV prevention in men: associations with HIV risk and protective behaviors

Attitudes Toward Intimate Partner Violence and Associations With Condom Use Among Men in Haiti: An Analysis of the Nationally Representative Demographic Health Survey

Although men have substantial decision-making power regarding condom use, the majority of HIV knowledge and prevention studies in the general Haitian population have been conducted among youth and women. We investigated attitudes toward intimate partner violence, knowledge of, and use of condoms among 9493 men in Haiti using data from the 2012 nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey. Only 36% of HIV-negative and 44% of HIV-positive men reported using a condom the last time they had had sex. Logistic regression revealed that believing it was justified for a man to hit or beat his wife if she refuses to have sex with him was associated with a lower odds of condom use. The odds of using a condom during last sex was higher among men who reported knowing condoms can prevent HIV and who had been tested for HIV. Given the low rate of condom use among men in Haiti, these findings suggest that interventions promoting HIV knowledge, HIV testing, and gender-violence prevention among men may also increase condom use.

Voluntary Counseling and Testing for HIV in Rural Area of Democratic Republic of the Congo: Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey among Service Users

Aims. To determine the prevalence of HIV, the level of sexual risk for HIV, and determinants of VCT attendance among adult population living in a rural area. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Mbanza-Ngungu, Democratic Republic of the Congo. An anonymous questionnaire was designed to extract relevant data. Results. In our cohort, 69% were respondents of more than 24 years of age and the single marital status was most represented (64.1%). A high proportion of respondents (90.6%) visited VCT service for requiring information (good acceptability). Positive test for HIV was reported in 9.4% of respondents. In this cohort, 49.6% of respondents had declared themselves to never use condom. In binary analysis, there was association between positive HIV test and age (p = 0.04) and religions (p = 0.02). In this cohort, it was observed that positive HIV test was significantly associated with confidentiality (p = 0.02). However, there was no association between positive HIV test and condom use (p = 0.25), knowledge of VCT (p = 0.81), service requested (p = 0.20), and previous HIV test (p = 0.68). Conclusions. Preventive information for AIDS should be recommended in the population living in rural zone.

Sexual abstinence behavior among never-married youths in a generalized HIV epidemic country: evidence from the 2005 Côte d'Ivoire AIDS indicator survey

Background

Sexual abstinence is the best available option for preventing both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS. Identifying the factors associated with sexual abstinence among youths would have meaningful implications in a generalized HIV epidemic country such as the Côte d'Ivoire. Thus, we explored sexual abstinence behavior among never-married individuals aged 15 to 24 in Côte d'Ivoire and assessed factors that predict sexual abstinence.

Methods

We obtained data from the nationally representative and population-based 2005 Côte d'Ivoire AIDS Indicator Survey, conducted from September 2004 to October 2005. Our sample included 3041 never-married people aged 15 to 24. Of these, 990 reported never having sexual intercourse (primary abstinence) and 137 reported sexual experience but not in the 12 months prior to the survey (secondary abstinence). In all, 1127 youths reported sexual abstinence practice.

Results

Of the 3041 never-married youths, 54.4% were male and 45.6% were female. About 33.0%, 6.7%, and 37.1% of them were practicing primary, secondary, and sexual abstinence behavior, respectively. Females of higher education level were significantly 11.14 times as likely as those of no education to practice either primary or secondary abstinence. Males who were animists, had no religion, or were practicing religions other than Christianity or Muslim were significantly less likely than other male youths to practice sexual abstinence (OR = 0.53, 95% CI = 0.30–0.95). Living in the north-west region of the country significantly decreased the odds of sexual abstinence among female youths. Similarly, female youths living in rural areas were significantly 0.42 times as likely as those in the urban zones to practice sexual abstinence.

Conclusion

HIV/AIDS prevention program components could include media campaigns, educational intervention improvement, as well as promoting policies that shape female youth livelihoods. Likewise, youth involvement in initiatives to design appropriate messages, and activities to promote positive behaviors or to change negative perceptions could impact on youths' decision to exert abstinence behavior.