Sexual experiences and perceived risk of HIV infection of females attending a Genitourinary Medicine Clinic in Georgetown, Guyana - abstract

ABSTRACT

Data on socio-demographics, past medical history, sexual activity and perceived risk of HIV infection were collected from 344/377 consecutive new clinic attenders during the period February 2 to April 22, 1993, using a structured pretested questionnaire. Most (79.4 percent) were between 15 and 29 years old and 65 percent were single. Virtually all (99.4 percent) had at least a primary school education and one-half (51.7 percent) attended secondary school. One-half (56.4 percent) were unemployed, 50.7 percent reported their age of first sexual intercourse as ó16 years, 30.6 percent between 17 and 18 years and 18.7 percent as o19 years. The mean age of first sexual intercourse was 18.4 (SD ñ3.5) years for those who were > 40 years old and 15.5 (SD ñ 1.6) years for those who were 10 - 19 years old. For those aged 20 - 29 years and 30 - 39 years, the mean ages of first sexual intercourse were 17.1 (SDñ 2.4) years and 17.3 (SD ñ 2.8) years, respectively. The majority (89.2 percent) reported "a single steady sex partner". One hundred and eighty-four women (53.6 percent) thought they were at risk of becoming HIV-infected. Women who had two or more sex partners during the previous year and three or more lifetime partners were significantly more likely to report being at risk. The apparent low sexual negotiating power of these women seems to produce behaviour which is conducive to the spread of HIV infection. These women as well as the men who visit them should be targeted for special education (AU)