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  • Title: Perceptions and practices relating to condom use among urban men in Haiti.
    Author: Boulos ML, Boulos R, Nichols DJ.
    Journal: Stud Fam Plann; 1991; 22(5):318-25. PubMed ID: 1759277.
    Abstract:
    This report is based on a survey conducted in 1986-87 of sexually active adult male residents in a low-income community of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The objectives were to investigate knowledge of and attitudes toward condoms; to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing condom distribution program; and to obtain information that can be used in the design of strategies to increase condom acceptance and use among men throughout Haiti. A final sample of 706 sexually active adult male residents in stable unions, including a specially drawn sample of male partners of condom acceptors, were interviewed in their homes. Although condoms are almost universally known, they are rarely used. The majority felt that the responsibility for family planning should be borne by the woman. Whereas condoms may be of limited popularity for family planning purposes in Haiti, it should be determined whether they might be more acceptable as an effective means of controlling the spread of AIDS and other STDs. Attitudes toward condom use and the effectiveness of a condom distribution program were investigated in a survey of 706 sexually active men residing in a low-income community in Port-au-prince, Haiti, in 1986-87. All respondents were in a stable sexual relationship at the time of the survey; 554 had received condoms (or their female partner had) from the Cite Soleil Family Planning Center, while the remaining respondents were recruited through a community sampling survey. The average age of study subjects was 33 years. 20% were married; the remaining men had been in a stable union for 8 years in the case of respondents recruited from the family planning center for 6 years in the case of men identified through the community survey. 25% of men in the former group and 15% of those in the latter group reported having had sexual relations with a person other than their regular partner in the 3 months preceding the interview. Although 99% of men in the community survey had heard of condoms, none had ever used this method; ever-use of any form of contraception was only 3% in this subsample. In contrast, 43% of men recruited from the family planning center had used condoms at some point and 5% were current users (contributing 13% of all current contraceptive use). 96% of ever-users of condoms reported that their female partner had obtained the method; however, only 10% states that their partner was influential in their decision to use condoms and only 2% agreed that the husband should take responsibility for pregnancy prevention. The low prevalence of condom use in this sample does not reflect opposition to family planning (93% supported the concept), concerns about efficacy (90% trusted the method), a perception that condoms are for casual sexual encounters (only 1% stated this opinion), or supply constraints. These findings indicate the need for an IEC campaign to promote more widespread condom use and male responsibility for family planning.
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