Female condom: Knowledge, attitudes and practices of students in three faculties of the University of Douala (original) (raw)
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Female Condom : Knowledge , Perceptions and Practices among Female College Students
2016
While the female condom empowers females to protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV & AIDS and unwanted pregnancy, its use has been, hitherto, low particularly in developing countries. The study sought to determine knowledge, attitudes and practices of female students concerning the female condom. A descriptive research design was used with a sample of 50 female students from Africa University who were recruited through systematic sampling.Data was collected using selfadministered questionnaires and analysed using descriptive statistics in form of frequent tables, figures and content analysis. The study revealed that all the respondents had heard of the female condom and70%of the respondents felt that the female condom is useful. However, female condom usage was very low only 2(4%) of the respondents who had used condoms. Factors like male decision (72%) fear of retention of condom (38%), perception, religion, culture and gender impacted negatively on the...
International journal of multidisciplinary Research and Growth Evaluation, 2022
Women are vulnerable to HIV infections because of their biological make up and they use female condoms as a means of HIV and STIs as well as pregnancy prevention. At first it was the male condom of which women had no control as a strategy of HIV and AIDS prevention as well as prevention of unwanted pregnancy. This led to development and use of female condom of which women have full control. The purpose of the study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practices towards female condom use among female undergraduate students at Africa University. A quantitative descriptive cross sectional study design was used. Non probability Convenience sampling method was used to select 200 female undergraduate students aged 19 to 40 years. Data was collected using self administered questionnaire with four sections namely demographic, knowledge, attitude and practices regarding female condom use. Data was analyzed using Epi info. The results showed that less than half 80 (40%) participants had heard about the female condom from the mass media while a few 20 (10%) had heard from health workers. The other half 100 (50%) had heard about female condom from university female students and male friends. Although the majority (75%) correctly defined a female condom and all knew that it is made out of polyurethane material, a small number 60 (30%) acknowledged its effectiveness when used as a single condom, correctly and consistently. The findings indicate that undergraduate students have partial information regarding female condom. A significant number 55 (27.5%) thought that female condoms were used by educated women only while a notable number 30 (15%) cited that it is for commercial sex workers only. Non usage of female condom was attributed to men preferring dry sex (25%) and that it was expensive. Most 138 (69%) believed that culture and religion negatively influenced condom use. The findings reflect that cultural norms and misconceptions have a bearing on non use of female condoms by undergraduate students. Almost all 178 (89%) participants had no sexual satisfaction when using female condom hence majority 175 (87.5%) did not use the female condom when having sex; most 180 (90%) had never used a female condom before. Only 12 (6%) participants had collected female condoms from the University clinic. Reasons for non uptake of female condom were attributed to lack knowledge and interest (50.5%), discomfort while putting it on (19%), male condom preference (16.5%) and it was noisy (14%). The findings reveal low uptake of female condom by undergraduate female students mainly due to lack of empowerment. There is need therefore for the University Health Services Unit to continuously health educate undergraduate female students on female condom use to enhance the partial knowledge they already have in order to dispel the misconceptions and break the cultural barriers surrounding female condom use.
Sokoto Journal of Medical Laboratory Science, 2017
The study was to determine the knowledge of female condom among adult's female in Imo State University, Owerri, using cross-sectional form of descriptive survey research design. A total of 180 copies of questionnaire were returned out of 200 copies that were distributed. The returned questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistic of frequency count, normative percentage and grand mean; as well as inferential statistics of chi-square (χ2). The level of significance was fixed at ≤0.05. Appropriate degrees of freedom were worked out. Result from the research on the knowledge of FC showed that 48.9% said yes through all the variables, while 49.9% respondents said No to the same variables. When subjected to chi-square analysis, the calculated chi-square 11088.4 was greater than the tabulated 15.507 rejecting the null hypothesis that respondents had no knowledge of FC. Identified factors for low knowledge and use of FC included; poor knowledge of FC due to poor sex and health education on the female gender and the negative aspects of the device. These factors have resulted in low patronage and usage of FC among ladies, hence increasing the spread of STI, unwanted pregnancy especially among teens and increasing complications and death rate due to teen pregnancy and intent to have an abortion.
The female condom is a proven effective female controlled HIV prevention device. Sociocultural and biological factors predispose women to a heavier burden of HIV/AIDS than men. In Cameroon, with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, no study has investigated the factors influencing use of the female condom. This study was aimed to identify the factors influencing utilization of the female condom among senior secondary school female students in Kumba, Cameroon, using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as the framework. A cross-sectional correlational design was adopted using a stratified simple random sample of 398 senior secondary school female students to respond to a pretested self- administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 20.0. Binomial logistic regression analyses were conducted at the 0.05 significance level. The proportion of the sexually active female students who reported ever used the female condom was very low, 8.0%. None of the components of the HBM was statistically associated with female condom use in binomial logistic regression analysis. However, female students who disagreed that youths are prone to HIV; that a healthy looking person can be HIV positive (perceived susceptibility); that the consequences of having HIV/AIDS are so serious that they may want to avoid them (perceived severity); that correct and consistent use of the female condom can prevent HIV transmission (perceived benefit); that they feel confident that they can convince their partners to use the female condom during sexual intercourse (perceived self- efficacy) were associated with lower odds of using the female condom during sexual intercourse: OR=0.44; 0.94; 0.43; 0.59; and 0.60 respectively. Conversely, female students who disagreed that the female condom makes sexual intercourse less enjoyable; that due to religious beliefs they would feel guilty using the female condom; that they lack knowledge on the correct use of the female condom; and that distance to the nearest female condom supply point is far (perceived barriers) were associated with higher odds of using the female condom during sexual intercourse: OR=1.20; 1.57; 1.16 and 1.49 respectively. Also, female students who perceived that they were at high risk of contracting HIV were at higher odds of using the female condom during sexual intercourse 1.87. Interventions to increase the perception of risk of contracting HIV among female students and strategies to empower them with female condom negotiation skills and to overcome tangible and psycho-social barriers to female condom use are highly needed.
British Journal of Medicine and Medical Research, 2015
The female condom remains the only female-initiated means of preventing both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. Unfortunately uptake in the West and in some developing countries has been low thus precluding the realization of the dual benefits of this device. Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of the use of the female condom and factors associated with its use among female students in a tertiary institution of learning in Enugu, Nigeria. Methods: This was a questionnaire based non comparative study. Sampling was by multi-stage technique. Data was collected using a semi-structured self administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SSPS statistical software version 17.0 for windows [Chicago IL, USA]. Bivariate Original Research Article 2 =3.48, p=0.00). Conclusion: There was a low use rate for the female condom despite a high level of awareness and this could be due to non-availability and cost. It is recommended that donor agencies, governmental and non-governmental organizations pool their efforts together to make female condoms more available and affordable.
Knowledge and Attitude to Female Condom Use among Undergraduates of Kigali Health Institute
Rwanda journal of health sciences, 2013
Background: Proper use of condom prevents Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and unwanted pregnancies. Efforts have been made in Rwanda to raise the population awareness on the use of the Female Condom but little is known about the current status of its use among college students. Objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitudes and use of the female condom among undergraduates of Kigali Health Institute. Methods: A descriptive study was carried out between May and June 2010. The sample was randomly selected from the students of Kigali Health Institute. A questionnaire based study was conducted involving 429 students. It captured the sample characteristics, their knowledge, attitudes and use of the female condom. The data were entered and analysed in SPSS 16.0. Results: About 79% of the students were aware of the female condom, but only 24% knew how to use it. Most respondents believed that the female condom can prevent the unwanted pregnancies (78%), the STIs and HIV/AIDS (81%). About 8% had ever tried it and less than three percent cited it as their contraception method. Conclusion: Awareness of the female condom was high but few students knew how to use it. Overall, favourable attitudes were recorded though neutral ones were higher and use of female condom was very low.
Background: Female condoms are devices used during sexual intercourse as a barrier contraceptive to reduce the risk sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as HIV, gonorrhea and syphilis. Consistent and appropriate use of condom is the most effective way of preventing HIV/AIDS transmission and unwanted pregnancies. Hypothesis tested was the influence of educational status on female condom & HIV/AIDS knowledge. This study was aimed at determining the knowledge, attitudes, experiences and factors associated with the inconsistent and incorrect use of female condom among sexually active young persons in Western Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Ogun State & Ekiti State, Western Nigeria. The target population was sexually active young persons between ages 15 to 40 years, which included people living with HIV/AIDS and female sex workers. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 360 respondents who were administered a well-structured pre-tested questionnaire. All data were statistically analyzed, using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) while statistical test of significance was performed using Chi-Square test. Results: A total of 360 (37 males & 323 females) respondents participated in the study. Most of them were in the age range of 21-25 years, with the mean age ± SD of 22.94 ± 3.78 years. 24.7% of them know how to use female condom but only 12.8% of them have ever used female condom as against 38.1% that have ever used male condom. Only 4.2% respondents are HIV positive, as 50.3% of the respondents preferred male condom mainly due to accessibility, affordability and easier use. Conclusion: The knowledge about female condom in this study was average while the attitudes towards its use were not favourable mainly due to the preference for male condom as a result of complaints about female condoms including unavailability, higher cost and insertion difficulty. Thus, there is need to extensively educate the entire populace especially women regarding the misconceptions and social stigma about female condom in order to boost its use.
The use of the female condom by women in Brazil participating in HIV prevention education sessions
Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública, 2004
Objectives. To study HIV-positive women and women at risk of becoming infected with HIV who attended HIV prevention education group sessions at a university hospital in Brazil and to compare the use of the female condom and the male condom by these two groups of women. Methods. The study subjects were 165 women participating in HIV prevention education group sessions at the
Factors Associated with Use of the Female Condom
Family Planning Perspectives, 1997
better index of acceptability than does the former, they are constrained by the bias of selecting only those women willing to try the device. Selectivity, small sample size and data collection restrictions in previous research have inhibited attempts to differentiate among women unwilling to try the device, those willing to do so and those using the female condom with some regularity.