PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDE TOWARDS POSSESSION OF MALE CONDOM BY FEMALE PARTNERS AMONG MALE POSTGRADUATE PUBLIC HEALTH STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN, NIGERIA

Abstract

The male condom is regarded as the single most effective technology against STI including HIV/AIDS but the patriarchal society that cast women in inferior light compared to men especially in issues of sexuality has made condom possession and use virtually impossible for women. Since condom use by women depends on their male partners, the findings from this study can point to potential areas of intervention on how men can be encouraged to support and promote male condom possession by their partners. This study was therefore carried out to investigate the perception, attitude and willingness of male public health students towards possession of male condom by female partners. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey involving the use of census technique. This included recruiting all the male students in the faculty of public health who gave consent for the study. One hundred and sixty-seven of the estimated 177 male students in the faculty consented to participate in the study and were selected. A validated semi-structured self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection and respondents were assessed on a 31-point knowledge scale, 16-point perception and 15-point attitude scales. Knowledge scores ≤10 were rated poor, scores >10≤20 fair and scores >20 good. Perception scores ≤9 represent poor while those >9 represent good perception and attitude scores ≤9 were considered poor while those >9 good attitude Descriptive statistics and Chi square tests were used to analyse data at 95% level of significance. Respondents’ mean age was 27.7±4.4 years and majority (69.5%) of them were Yoruba. Majority (72.5%) were Christians and most (86.8%) of them were single. Almost all (99.6%) of them have had sex before and a total of one hundred and six (63.5%) of them had had unprotected sex in the past. In the last 6 months, 3 months, and 3 weeks preceding the study, 35.3%, 17.4% and 16.2% respectively had had unprotected sex. Most (83.8%) of the respondents had fair knowledge of protected sex while 13.2% and 3.0% respectively had poor and good knowledge. The knowledge score was 15.1±4.1. Majority (70.7%) had good perception scores (PS) while only 29.3% had poor PS. Attitude was good among 46.1% of the respondents but poor among 53.9% of them. Overall, 57.8% of them were willing to promote possession of male condom by female partners while 42.2% were not. There was no statistically significant relationship between religion and willingness but departments, perception and societal norm significantly associated with willingness to promote possession of male condom by female partners. Although knowledge of protected sex was poor among most of the respondents, perception and attitude towards possession of male condom by female partners were positive and majority of them were willing to promote this behaviour. It is therefore recommended that men should be engaged and encouraged to promote and support possession of male condom by women and especially their partners.