Condom use and knowledge among married women in rural areas of China

Abstract

According to 2007 statistics for temporary urban populations in China there were 100441000 people who had migrated to cities from rural areas to find jobs and 59% was male. Many migrant men move back and forth frequently leaving their wives at home. Studies have shown that migrant men have high rates of unprotected sexual intercourse including with women working in the commercial sex industry are at a high risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV and do not notify their sexual partners of their extra-marital sexual experiences. When the men return home for busy agricultural seasons holidays or for other reasons they may transmit STIs or HIV to their wives. Condoms have proven to be cost-effective for prevention and control of STIs and HIV. However there is limited data on condom use and knowledge among married women in rural China whose husbands work away from home. To gain a better understanding of condom use and knowledge among this group of married women in rural China a cross-sectional study was conducted in North Anhui where the first HIV epidemic among plasma donors was reported in China. The present study found that many of the women did not know that condoms can prevent transmission of HIV or STIs and most had never used condoms within marriage. Potential reasons for not using condoms might be that the women were already using a contraceptive measure and did not think they need to protect themselves against STIs or HIV. This lack of knowledge and low level of use within marriage can put these women at high risk of infection. The present study underscores the need to promote condom use among married women whose husbands are migrant workers even if other contraceptive methods are being used particularly in areas with high rates of HIV infection.