The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge regarding STD spread and prevention, and to assess motivational and behavioral factors that influence the use of condoms to prevent STD acquisition among inner-city women at high risk for STD infection. In addition, the effect of past and/or current STD infection on a woman's knowledge of the mechanism of STD acquisition and subsequent use of a condom to prevent STD infection was explored. We utilized three inner-city clinics offering family planning or gynecologic care located in Brooklyn, New York. Our study linked clinical findings regarding current infection with chlamydia or Trichomonas vaginalis. One thousand four hundred and four sexually active black and Hispanic women participated in the study. A past history of STD (37%) or current infection (29%) was recorded for 54% of the study population (12% were positive for both past and current infection). On average, only 60% of women who reported prior treatment for STD infection reported receiving any information regarding prevention of re-infection during the course of treatment. Depending on the specific STD, from 6.8% to 42.9% of women reporting prior treatment for an STD did not know the disease they were being treated for was sexually transmitted. Condom use for disease prevention was more frequently reported by women who had previously been treated for an STD (OR = 1.62, 95% CI 1.23-2.13). However, condom use for contraception was a stronger predictor of use for STD prevention. Women who relied on condoms for contraception were almost 10 times more likely to also report condom use for STD prevention relative to women who did not use condoms for contraceptive purposes (OR = 9.71, 95% CI 7.0-13.5). In addition, condom use was associated with the perceived attitude of their sexual partner toward such use. Condom use to prevent STD acquisition was more than twice as frequently reported when a favorable attitude was perceived by a male sexual partner (OR = 2.30, 95% CI 1.54-3.43). Our findings suggest that prevention of unplanned pregnancy was a stronger motivator for condom use than disease prevention among the women comprising our study group. The findings also indicate the need for more extensive information regarding STD prevention among women at high risk for STD acquisition.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
PIP: A study was conducted among 1404 sexually active black and Hispanic women in three clinics offering family planning or gynecologic care in Brooklyn, New York, to assess levels of knowledge regarding the spread and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), as well as the motivational and behavioral factors which influence condom use to prevent STD acquisition among inner-city women at high risk for STD infection. The study also explored the effect of past and/or current STD infection upon a woman's knowledge of the mechanism of STD acquisition and subsequent use of a condom to prevent STD infection. The study linked clinical findings regarding current infection with chlamydia or Trichomonas vaginalis. A past history of STD (37%) or current infection (29%) was recorded for 54% of the study population. Overall, only 60% of women who reported prior treatment for STD infection reported receiving any information on preventing reinfection during the course of treatment. Depending upon the specific STD, 6.8-42.9% of the women reporting prior treatment for STD infection did not know the disease for which they were being treated was transmitted sexually. Further, condom use was more frequently reported by women who been previously treated for a STD. Women who relied upon condoms for contraception were almost ten times more likely to also report condom use for STD prevention relative to women who did not use condoms for contraception. Condom use to prevent against STDs also was more than twice as frequently reported when a favorable attitude was perceived by a male sex partner.