Authors: Ma, Qiaoqin¹; Ono-Kihara, Masako²; Cong, Liming³; Pan, Xiaohong³; Xu, Guozhang⁴; Zamani, Saman²; Ravari, Shahrzad Mortazavi²; Kihara, Masahiro²

Source: AIDS Care, Volume 21, Number 2, February 2009 , pp. 249-259(11)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

Abstract:

In China the HIV epidemic has started to infiltrate into a broader population through heterosexual contact and particularly to impact young people. The purpose of this study was to identify behavioral and psychosocial correlates of condom use among Chinese university students. A self-administered questionnaire survey with cross-sectional design was conducted among all classes of undergraduate students at two universities in one municipality of Eastern China, 2003. Data obtained from 1850 sexually active students who answered the question on condom use during the previous year were used for analysis. Frequent (always/often) condom use during the previous year was reported by only about 40% of both men and women. Multivariate analysis revealed that condom use during the first sexual experience, oral contraceptive use in the previous year and higher condom self-efficacy score in both genders were potent predictors of frequent condom use, while frequent condom use was less likely practiced by men who ever had non-vaginal sex, by those with higher risk-awareness for pregnancy/HIV/sexually transmitted diseases and by women with lower scores for perceived condom benefits. Safe sex education for Chinese students should be urgently introduced and should not be limited to knowledge provision but should also address psychosocial factors, such as condom self-efficacy and gender differences adequately to effectively encourage safer behavior.

Keywords: condom use; STDs/HIV/AIDS; gender differences; students

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09540120801982921

Affiliations: 1: Department of Global Health and Socio-epidemiology, Kyoto University School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan,Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China 2: Department of Global Health and Socio-epidemiology, Kyoto University School of Public Health, Kyoto, Japan 3: Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, China 4: Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Ningbo Municipality, Ningbo, China

Publication date: 2009-02-01

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