Knowledge, attitude and practices associated with condom use among antenatal women

The basic principles of HIV prevention lay emphasis on three important behaviours: abstinence, monogamous relationship and condom use. Among the three, condoms use alone can reduce the likelihood of infection by 90 percent. A quantitative study using interview schedule was conducted in which 100 women were interviewed. Simple random sampling technique was used to draw the required number of subjects from the sampling frame. The study revealed that the condom use as means of protection against HIV in India is low though it has been successful as a means of family planning device, since 70 percent of women agreed that there is no need to use condom if oral contraceptives were used. Socioeconomic characteristics such as education and economic status of women are found to be significantly associated with HIV awareness and condom use (p = 0.05). The sexual division of power plays an important role in sexual behaviour among women. The study highlights the need to implement policies that support women's education for behavioural change.