Factors associated with condom use in women from an urban area in southern Brazil

• Main Authors: Mariângela Freitas da Silveira (Author), Iná Silva dos Santos (Author), Jorge Umberto Béria (Author), Bernardo Lessa Horta (Author), Elaine Tomasi (Author), Cesar Gomes Victora (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0102-311X; 1678-4464
• Keywords: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; sexually transmitted diseases; sexual behavior; women's health; risk factors; Medicine; R; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: Cadernos de Saúde Pública, Vol 21, Iss 5, Pp 1557-1564

This study investigated the prevalence of factors associated with condom use during last sexual intercourse in 15-49-year-old women in a probabilistic sample from the urban area of Pelotas, southern Brazil. A questionnaire administered by an interviewer, investigating socioeconomic characteristics and habits, and another (self-administered) questionnaire on sexual behavior-related variables were used. Poisson regression, following a hierarchical model, was used for data analysis. 1,543 women were included, and losses and refusals amounted to 3.5%. Prevalence of condom use in last sexual intercourse was 28.0%. Condom use was positively associated with younger age, greater schooling, non-white color, single marital status, and greater number of sex partners in the previous three months. This suggests that the group most vulnerable to STDs/AIDS due to lack of condom use is white, adult women, in stable unions, with fewer sexual partners.