Perceptions and practices relating to condom use among urban men in Haiti
Boulos, M.L.; Boulos, R.; Nichols, D.J.
Studies in Family Planning 22(5): 318-325
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0039-3665 PMID: 1759277 DOI: 10.2307/1966686Document Number: 376630
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.