Barriers to condom use among women at risk of HIV/AIDS: a qualitative study from Iran

BMC Women's Health

Research Article

Ebrahim Hajizadeh¹  Farideh Yaghmaei²  Fahimeh Ramezani Tehrani³  Razieh Lotfi⁴ 

[1] Biostatistics Department, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran;Health Department, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;Reproductive Endocrinology Research Center, Research Institute for Endocrine Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;Reproductive Health Department, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;

关键词: Sexual behavior;    Barriers;    Women;    HIV;    Qualitative research;    Condom;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6874-12-13

 received in 2011-08-06, accepted in 2012-03-20,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe growing trend of women infected with HIV through sexual transmission is alarming. Factors influencing condom use have not yet been fully identified, especially in countries with conservative cultures and backgrounds. The present study aimed to explore the barriers of condom use in Iranian women at risk of HIV.MethodsUsing the grounded theory methodology, participants’ experiences and their perceptions regarding condom were collected during semi structured in depth interviews. Participants were 22 women, aged 21–49 years, considered to be at risk for HIV, due to their own or their partner’s sexual behaviors. Qualitative analysis of the data was conducted manually and was guided by constant comparative analysis.ResultsTwo main barriers, personal and socio-environmental emerged from data analysis. Lack of perceived threat, absence of protective motivation, inadequate knowledge, perceived lack of control, negative attitudes towards condom and misperception were the major personal barriers, while unsupportive environments and cultural norms were the common socio-environmental barriers to condom use among these at risk women.ConclusionsThese critical barriers have to be addressed for implementing effective prevention programs against HIV among populations at risk for HIV.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Lotfi et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.