Correlates of Condom Use among Sex Workers and Their Boyfriends in Three West African Countries

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify correlates associated with condom use at last intercourse between sex workers (SW) and their boyfriends (BF). The sample was derived as a convenience sample recruited through existing HIV prevention organizations in Benin, Guinea and Senegal. The Theory of Planned Behavior served as the conceptual framework. A total of 406 individuals (220 SW and 186 BF) participated in the study. Socio-demographic, behavioral and psychological variables were collected through a face-to-face administered questionnaire. Condom use at last intercourse was significantly associated with intention and perceived control among SW as well as their BF. With respect to intention, perceived control, attitude and moral norm explained 82 and 74% of intention of SW and BF, respectively. These results suggest that promoting condom use among SW and BF should be based primarily on the development of personal ability to overcome obstacles to condom use.

Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Behavioral Risk Factors of Female Sex Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

“…It is not typically based in the large-scale brothels that are common in Asia-with n=1072 Fig. 2 Flow chart of identification and selection of studies some exceptions, largely in West Africa, especially Nigeria [1,3,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. In one Kenyan study, only 6% of the FSW interviewed worked in brothels; these were run by a group of women as a business [24].…”

“…In Guinea and Benin, for example, national HIV prevalence in 2002 was about 3% compared with more than 40% among sex workers [1]. In almost all studies in southern Africa over the past decade more than half of FSW were HIV infected, with HIV prevalence reaching 86% in one study [2].…”

‘We are despised in the hospitals’: sex workers' experiences of accessing health care in four African countries

“…Continent wide, SWs bear a disproportionate burden of HIV, with prevalence commonly 10-20-fold higher than the general population (Scorgie et al 2012;Godin et al 2008;Baral et al 2012). Many SWs, however, consider the risk of violence to be a greater and more immediate threat than HIV, clearly demonstrating the everyday dangers and difficult conditions under which sex work commonly takes place (Nairne D 2000).…”

Bahamian Men's Sexual Risks for HIV Infection

“…Findings in the literature have provided empirical evidence that attitude, subjective norms, and PBC significantly predict condom use in various places such as Africa, Canada, the Caribbean, Hong Kong, Korea, and South America (Boileau et al, 2008;Fazekas et al, 2001;Fishbein et al, 1993;Godin, Bah, Sow, Minani, & Morin, 2008;Jemmott et al, 2007;Muñoz-Silva et al, 2007) and thus may be suitable to predict safer sex behaviors in Bahamian men.…”

“…However, the literature has provided substantial support for applying the TPB to sexual risk behavior among males in other countries (Beadnell et al, 2008;Boileau et al, 2008;Cha et al, 2008;Godin et al, 2008;Gredig et al, 2007;Mashegoane, Moalusi, Peltzer, & Ngoepe, 2002;Muñoz-Silva et al, 2007) and may also be suitable to be adapted and applied to understand and predict safer sex behaviors in Bahamian men.…”