1,720,975 research outputs found
If the condom fits, wear it: a qualitative study of young African-American men
No full textThis is an open access article - Copyright @ 2004 BMJ Publishing GroupObjective: To extend the current knowledge base pertaining to condom failure among young African-American men by assessing their experiences with male condom use.
Methods: Qualitative assessments were conducted with 19 African-American men (aged 18–29 years) who had just been diagnosed with an STI and reported using condoms in the previous 3 months.
Results: Five categories were identified from the data. These categories pertained to: (1) the “fit and feel” of condoms; (2) condom brand and size; (3) application problems; (4) availability of condoms and lubricants; and (5) commitment to condom use. Common themes included reasons why men believed condoms would break or slip off during sex. Comfort problems, including tightly fitting condoms and condoms drying out during intercourse, were mentioned frequently. Condom associated erection problems were often described. Many men also noted that condom use reduced the level of sexual satisfaction for their female partners. Men noted that finding the right kind of condom was not always easy and it became apparent during the interviews that men typically did not acquire lubrication to add to condoms. Despite their expressed problems with using condoms, men were, none the less, typically emphatic that condom use is an important part of their protective behaviour against STIs.
Conclusion: Men were highly motivated to use condoms; however, they experienced a broad range of problems with condom use. With the exception of losing the sensation of skin to skin contact, the vast majority of these problems may be amenable to behavioural interventions.This study was funded by a grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (1 R21 MH066682-01A1)
Condom use errors and problems: a study of high-risk young black men residing in three southern US cities
No full textObjective: The primary aim of this study was to assess self-reported frequencies of selected condom use errors and problems, using a retrospective recall period of 2 months, among young Black men attending sexually transmitted infection clinics. A secondary objective was to determine whether more errors/problems occurred among men reporting sex with multiple partners compared with those reporting one sexual partner.Methods: Data were collected in clinics treating patients with sexually transmitted infections in three Southern US cities. Men, 15–23 years of age who identified as Black/African American and reported recent (past 2 months) condom use were eligible (N?=?475).Results: Condom use errors and problems were common, with some of the most critical errors occurring for greater than one of every five young Black men, such as late application, early removal, slipping off during sex, and re-using condoms. For 8 (33.3%) of the 24 errors/problems assessed, young Black men reporting more than one sexual partner in the previous 2 months experienced more errors and problems than men reporting only one partner.Conclusion: The disease protective value of condoms may be sub-optimal in this population.A need exists to improve the quality of condom use among young Black men at risk of sexually transmitted infection acquisition or transmission. Intensified clinic-based intervention that helps young Black men improve the quality of their condom use behaviors is warranted
Likelihood of condom use when sexually transmitted diseases are suspected: results from a clinic sample
No full textObjective. To determine the event-level associations between perceived risk of sexually transmitted disease (STD) acquisition/transmission and condom use during penile–vaginal intercourse (PVI) among STD clinic attendees. Method. A convenience sample (N = 622) completed daily electronic assessments. Two questions were proxies of perceived risk: suspicion that the partner might currently have an STD and that “you” might currently have an STD. Participants reported whether condoms were used with PVI events in the past 24 hours. Generalized estimating equations determined the association between each of the perceived risk variables and event-level condom use. Results. For the model pertaining to suspicion of sex partner infection, there were 16,674 events of PVI, with condom use during 10,552 of these events. The effect of current suspicion was significant after adjusting for gender and whether participants identified as African American/Black (estimated odds ratio = 2.17, 95% confidence interval = 1.57-3.00, P = .0001). The model pertaining to suspicion of self-infection included 16,679 events of penile–vaginal sex, with condom use during 10,557 of these events. Again, the effect of current suspicion was significant after adjusting for gender and African American/Black race (estimated odds ratio = 2.05, 95% confidence interval = 1.43-2.40, P = .0001). Tests for interactions with gender and with race were nonsignificant (all Ps > .25). Conclusion. Using an event-level research design, strong associations were found between perceptions of STD risk and condom use in a clinical population. Health care providers and other professionals may indirectly promote condom use by helping clinic patients realistically evaluate their risk of having sex with infected partners or of being a source of STD transmission to others
Negative perceptions about condom use among a clinic population: comparisons by gender, race, and age
No full textObjectives:We sought to elucidate the associations of 13 items assessing negative perceptions about condom use with gender, age, and race in a sample of clinic attendees.Methods:Patients from 4 clinics, in three US cities, were recruited (N=928). Data were collected using audio-computer assisted self-interviewing. The primary measure was a 13-item adapted version of the Condom Barriers Scale. Logistic regression and chi-square tests were employed to relate the 13 items to gender, age, and race.Results:Gender, race, and age all had significant associations with negative perceptions of condoms and their use. A primary finding was a large number of significant differences between men and women, with negative perceptions more common among women than men. For African Americans, especially women, negative perceptions were more common among older participants than among younger participants.Conclusions:Important demographic differences regarding negative perceptions may inform the tailoring of intervention efforts that seek to rectify negative perceptions about condoms and thus promote condom use among individuals at risk for STIs in the US. On the other hand, our findings also suggest that the majority of STI clinic attendees may hold positive perceptions about condoms and their use; maintaining and building upon these positive perceptions via education, counseling, and access is also important
Desire to father a child and condom use: a study of young black men at risk of sexually transmitted infections
No full textBACKGROUND: To determine whether men's reported desire to father a child or their perception that someone wanted to have their child was associated with elevated rates of unprotected vaginal sex, among a sample of young Black men at high risk of sexually transmitted infection acquisition.METHODS: Data were collected in clinics treating sexually transmitted infections in three southern U.S. cities. Men 15-23 years of age who identified as Black/African American and reported recent (past two months) penile-vaginal sex were eligible (N = 578). Logistic regression was used to examine whether desire to conceive a child (self and perception of partners' desire) predicted condom use, adjusting for age and whether they had previously impregnated someone.RESULTS: Their own level of desire to conceive a child was not significantly associated with unprotected vaginal sex or the proportion of times a condom was used. However, those who perceived higher level of someone wanting to conceive their child were 1.73 times more likely to report unprotected vaginal sex (P = .006) and 1.62 times more likely to report a lower proportion of times condoms were used (P = .019).CONCLUSIONS: Young Black men attending sexually transmitted infection clinics in the USA may forego condom use based on a perceived desire of their partners to become pregnant putting themselves at risk for sexually transmitted infection acquisition and unplanned pregnancy. Findings provide initial support for the relevance of the idea that perceptions of women partners' desire to conceive may be a critical determinant of condomless sex
A comparison of condom use errors and problems for heterosexual anal and vaginal intercourse
No full textCondom use errors and problems were compared for anal and vaginal intercourse among a convenience sample of heterosexual men aged 18–66 years (n = 757). Men completed an online questionnaire for the last male condom use event for penile–anal (10.4%) or penile–vaginal (89.6%) intercourse. The prevalence of condom use errors and problems was similar regardless of intercourse type with a few exceptions; those reporting anal intercourse were significantly more likely to report using water-based (P < 0.001) and oil-based (P = 0.037) lubricant and to remove condoms before sex was finished (P < 0.001). The large majority of the sample (93.8%) reported at least one of the nine errors assessed and almost half (46.2%) reported at least one of the seven problems, indicating that many adults may need assistance with these issues. Condom use promotion programmes designed for heterosexual adults are needed that address condom use errors and problems for penile–anal as well as penile–vaginal intercourse
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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