In rural India, with hundreds of thousands of villages, a priority from a programmatic perspective is to efficiently determine which villages are at highest risk of HIV/AIDS transmission. The authors first report on the use of a rapid ethnographic approach in 10 rural villages of Karnataka, India, to develop a domains and indicators framework of village-level HIV/AIDS risk and a subsequent rapid assessment tool. They then analyze the rapid ethnographic approach and the rapid assessment tool to discuss differences and commonalities among rapid designs. They also discuss if these studies can be properly categorized as ethnographies, are mainly qualitative in nature, and are in essence participatory, and how appropriate they are to the public health field in general and the HIV/AIDS field in particular.

potential solution to over-report, allowing interventions to target populations at risk from inconsistent condom use. This study uses a biomarker for unprotected sex to evaluate the accuracy of adolescent womens reports of condom use. Methods The sample comprised 715 African-American female participants in an HIV prevention trial who were ages 15e21, sexually active, and recruited from three urban Atlanta family planning and STI clinics in 2002e2004. At baseline, 6, and 12 months, participants completed a 40 min ACASI interview and were tested for semen Y-chromosome with PCR from a selfadministered vaginal swab. Data analysis used non-parametric tests for trend and clustered logistic regression to predict self-reported pregnancy.Results At the three waves respectively 30%, 20% and 15% of participants who reported 100% condom use tested positive for semen Y chromosome. Suspected over-reporters of condom use were more likely to report being pregnant at the following wave than any other category of condom and birth control users: at wave 2, 20.4% of wave 1 suspected over-reporters were pregnant vs 14.2% of wave 1 condom never-users and 9.8% of those reporting no birth control at last sex; at wave 3, 16.2% of wave 2 suspected over-reporters were pregnant vs 11.8% of condom never-users and 10.8% reporting no birth control at last sex. Suspected over-reporters of unprotected sex were more likely to report pregnancy at the following wave, controlling for frequency of sex, condom use, and oral contraception (OR 3.95 (1.63 to 9.58), 2.64 (0.92 to 7.58)) see Abstract P2-S1.18 Table 1. Conclusions Respondents who report 100% condom use but test positive for semen Y-chromosome are at higher risk than other women. These women may be over-reporting their condom use and under-reporting their frequency of sex.Abstract P2-S1.18 Table 1 Prediction of pregnancy with logistic regression. Analysis was limited to those who participated in all 3 waves of the survey (n¼560). Did not report sex past 60 days are those who participated in the wave but did not answer the question how many times they had sex in the past 60 days. Condom use in the past 60 days was imputed from condom use in the past 14 days for these individuals. Predictors of pregnancy are measured in the wave previous to pregnancy Background The Karnataka Health Promotion Trust implements HIV preventive interventions for female sex workers (FSWs) in Karnataka, South India, in partnership with non-governmental and community-based organizations (NGOs and CBOs). These interventions are supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Community mobilisation and collectivisation are key vulnerability reduction strategies. In Bellary district, FSWs are encouraged to form site-level groups of 10e12 members which meet regularly. They discuss STIs, HIV, condom negotiation skills, and other important issues. They also support members during crises, and engage in savings and credit activities. We attempted to understand the impact in Bellary of collective membership and the availabi...