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Adding the Female Condom to HIV Prevention Interventions for Women with Severe Mental Illness: A Pilot Test

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Abstract

We evaluated the efficacy of a gender-specific intervention to reduce sexual risk behaviors by introducing female-initiated methods to urban women with severe mental illness. Seventy-nine women received 10 sessions of an HIV prevention intervention or a control intervention. The primary outcome was unprotected oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse, expressed using the Vaginal Episode Equivalent (VEE) score. Knowledge and use of the female condom were also assessed. Women in the HIV prevention intervention showed a three-fold reduction in the VEE score at the 3-month follow-up compared to the control group, but the difference was not significant. These women were significantly more likely to know about female condoms, have inserted one and used it with a sexual partner at the 3-month follow-up and to have inserted it at 6 months compared to controls. The female condom may be a useful addition, for a subset of women with SMI, to comprehensive HIV prevention programs.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by NIMH K01 MH01691 (PI Pamela Y. Collins) and a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Harold Amos Medical Faculty Development Program, and the research was conducted while Dr. Collins was based at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of the NIMH or the Federal Government. We are grateful to investigators from the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies (PI Anke Ehrhardt) (New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University) for their helpful comments. The authors wish to thank Dr. Patricia Zybert, Dr. Bruce Levin, Dr. Emilia Bagiella, Ms. Helena Chang, Ms. Sarah Joestl and members of the HIV Center Statistics, Epidemiology, and Data Management Core for their data analytic contributions. We are grateful to Dr. Stephanie LeMelle and Dr. Henry McCurtis for their contributions to intervention development, administration, and site procurement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Pamela Y. Collins, Natalie Crawford & Marcela Hoffer

  2. National Institute of Mental Health, 6001 Executive Blvd, Room 8125, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9659, USA

    Pamela Y. Collins

  3. Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), Research Group Public Health, Berlin, Germany

    Hella von Unger

  4. Mc Lean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA

    Susan Putnins

  5. UNICEF Headquarters, New York, NY, USA

    Ragini Dutt

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  1. Pamela Y. Collins
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  2. Hella von Unger
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  3. Susan Putnins
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  5. Ragini Dutt
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  6. Marcela Hoffer
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Correspondence to Pamela Y. Collins.

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Collins, P.Y., von Unger, H., Putnins, S. et al. Adding the Female Condom to HIV Prevention Interventions for Women with Severe Mental Illness: A Pilot Test. Community Ment Health J 47, 143–155 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-010-9302-8

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