%0 Journal Article
%T Can follow-up study questions about correct and consistent condom use reduce respondent over-reporting among groups at high risk? An analysis of datasets from six countries
%A Varja Lipovsek
%A Kim Longfield
%A Justin Buszin
%J Reproductive Health
%D 2010
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1742-4755-7-9
%X Paired t-test analyses were conducted on data from 11 surveys of female sex workers and men who have sex with men, from five Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. All surveys included either a test-retest item for consistent condom use or else a combination of the test-retest item and a second item measuring correct condom use.In all 11 datasets, the proportion of respondents qualifying as consistent condom users decreased significantly after answers to either one or both follow-up questions were taken into account. In the six datasets from surveys of female sex workers, the difference between the initial and final level of self-reported condom use ranged from 4.3% to 23.2%. In the five datasets from surveys of men who have sex with men, the difference between the initial and final level of self-reported condom use ranged from 9.9% to 37.0%.Given the amount of recall bias and social desirability bias usually associated with condom use survey items, a measure that identifies a lower proportion of condom users than initially found is taken to be more accurate. The two follow-up questions examined in this study appear to substantially reduce the proportion of people claiming consistent condom use. As most behavioral surveys rely on self-reported measures, the addition of such questions could significantly improve estimates of consistent condom use. We therefore recommend that these and other types of follow-up items be added to future condom use surveys and evaluated further as potential means of obtaining more accurate information about this important behavior.Worldwide, sexual contact is the most common route of HIV transmission among general populations, as well as among specific subgroups such as commercial sex workers and men who have sex with men [1]. Condom use therefore remains central to HIV prevention interventions, and behavioral surveillance surveys as well as programmatic evaluations typically focus on self-reported condom use as an import
%U http://www.reproductive-health-journal.com/content/7/1/9