Condom use by women recently diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection: effects of study methodology on the apparent influence of hormonal/surgical contraception.

OBJECTIVE/GOAL:

The objective of this study was to investigate potential predictors of consistent condom use (CCU), including the influence of hormonal contraception/surgical sterilization (HC/SS).

STUDY:

Regression methods were used to predict CCU and other measures of CU among 214 sexually active, 18- to 45-year-old women previously diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection.

RESULTS:

CCU was significantly associated with younger age, African American ethnicity, having casual partners, recent HIV testing, condom use self-efficacy, and concern about partner relationship. HC/SS was not significantly associated with the likelihood of CCU, before (HC/SS, 21.3%, non-HC/SS, 25.3%; odds ratio [OR], 0.798; P=0.4914) or after (OR, 1.209; P=0.5995) controlling for confounders (age, ethnicity, casual partners). Controlling for age and ethnicity eliminated initial significant or near-significant inverse associations between HC/SS and 3 alternative measures of interval condom use ("any use," "number of unprotected acts," "proportion condom-protected contacts") and substantially diminished the association between HC/SS and "condom use at last sex."

CONCLUSIONS:

Choice of condom use measure and control of confounding variables can substantially affect results when studying potential predictors of condom use such as HC/SS.