Condom use among Aboriginal people in Ontario, Canada
Calzavara, L.M.; Burchell, A.N.; Myers, T.; Bullock, S.L.; Escobar, M.; Cockerill, R.
International Journal of Std and Aids 9(5): 272-279
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0956-4624 PMID: 9639205 DOI: 10.1258/0956462981922205Document Number: 274421
A number of studies have found higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among Canada's populations of native peoples relative to rates for the country's general population. More than 63,400 native peoples live on-reserve in Ontario. A survey was conducted of 658 First Nations native men and women living in 11 of Ontario's reserve communities in an effort to identify prevailing patterns of condom use. The 400 people who had experienced vaginal and/or anal intercourse during the previous 12 months were included in the analysis. Study participants were age 15 years and older; 15.8% of the total sample of participants was age 40 years and older. 47.5% were married; 7.3% separated, divorced, or widowed; and 45.3% were never married. 1% reported engaging in homosexual sexual relations during the previous 12 months. 8% of the sample reported always using condoms during the preceding 12 months, 31% used them sometimes, and 61% never used them. Condom use rates varied according to the number of sex partners during the last year, age, gender, whether or not a person had a steady sex partner, and marital status. According to multiple logistic regression, the people most likely to use condoms were under age 30 years, male, without a long-term steady sex partner, with more than one sex partner, worried about pregnancy, knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, and not embarrassed to obtain condoms. Condoms users who were knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS and who knew someone with HIV/AIDS were more likely to always use condoms. The most common reason cited for not using a condom was because the individual was having sex with his or her steady sex partner.