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Correlates of Condom Use and Procedure Knowledge Among Men Accessing Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Malawi

International Journal of Behavioral Medicine volume 24, pages 305–311 (2017)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

This study examined correlates of condom use (CU) and voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) knowledge among men accessing VMMC services in Malawi.

Methods

Two hundred sixty-nine men ages 16 or older accessing VMMC were recruited at service sites. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to determine associations, and the relative odds of CU at last sex with VMMC knowledge. Correlates included the following: education, age, location, religion, marital status, ever tested for HIV, having casual/concurrent sexual partners, and alcohol use before sex.

Results

The multivariate analysis revealed CU was associated with having a casual/concurrent partner in the previous 3 months and negatively associated with being age 27 or older and single, with participants who had casual/concurrent partners being more likely to use condoms than counterparts who did not have casual/concurrent partners, and those who were over age 27 and single being less likely to do so. VMMC knowledge was associated with education and location, with men with higher education and living in urban areas more likely to know that VMMC partially protects against HIV.

Conclusion

Results highlight the need to ensure information about VMMC is appropriate for rural men with lower education. Further research is needed to understand the risk profile of men accessing VMMC and the reasons why men who do not know VMMC partially protects against HIV are seeking the service.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Office of HIV/AIDS, USAID, 2100 Crystal Drive VA, Arlington, VA, 22202, USA

    Maria Augusta Carrasco

  2. Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MA, USA

    Maria Augusta Carrasco & Michelle R. Kaufman

Authors
  1. Maria Augusta Carrasco
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  2. Michelle R. Kaufman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Augusta Carrasco.

Ethics declarations

The Johns Hopkins Institutional Review Board and the Malawi National Health Sciences Research Committee provided ethical review and approval.

Funding

This study was supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under award number 674-A-00-09-00024-00 to the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. The views in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the US Government.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Disclaimer

The views in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the US Government.

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Carrasco, M.A., Kaufman, M.R. Correlates of Condom Use and Procedure Knowledge Among Men Accessing Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in Malawi. Int.J. Behav. Med. 24, 305–311 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9594-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-016-9594-3

Keywords

  • Voluntary medical male circumcision
  • Malawi
  • HIV prevention
  • Condom use
  • Sub-Saharan Africa