Women's Global Health Imperative, RTI International, 114 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94104, USA.
AIDS Behav. 2012 Oct;16(7):1775-86. doi: 10.1007/s10461-012-0215-0.
Vaginal rings (VRs) are new methods for continuous delivery of microbicides. This is the first study to quantitatively and qualitatively explore the acceptability of rings in Africa: 157 HIV-negative, sexually active women aged 18-35 used a placebo silicone elastomer ring for 12 weeks. They completed product acceptability questionnaires every 4 weeks. We conducted 6 exit focus group discussions with a subset of 48 women and 19 in-depth interviews with male partners. Retention in the study was high (97 %). Initial insertion at the clinic was successful on first attempt for 81 % of participants. Most women were comfortable using the ring, and very few (≤2 %) could feel it during daily activities or had ring-related physical or emotional problems. In the qualitative interviews many participants reported that they initially had concerns about using the ring. However, only a minority of women actually reported concerns with the ring during the study. The most frequent concern was that the ring would get lost inside the body (20 %), and this was significantly correlated with study site, frequently thinking about the ring and reporting that the ring was not very easy to remove. Qualitative data suggest that informants grew to like the ring because it felt securely placed, was unnoticeable during daily activities, and felt "normal" during sex. The ring appeared to be highly acceptable for women and men. Initial concerns with this novel method suggest a need for enhanced product counseling when VRs are introduced.
阴道环（VR）是一种新的持续递微杀剂的方法。这是第一项在非洲定量和定性探索环接受度的研究：157 名 HIV 阴性、有性行为的 18-35 岁女性使用安慰剂硅酮弹性体环 12 周。她们每 4 周完成一次产品接受度问卷。我们对 48 名女性中的一部分进行了 6 次退出焦点小组讨论，并对 19 名男性伴侣进行了深入访谈。研究中的保留率很高（97%）。初次在诊所插入时，81%的参与者首次尝试成功。大多数女性使用环时感到舒适，极少数（≤2%）在日常活动中能感觉到环，或有与环相关的身体或情绪问题。在定性访谈中，许多参与者报告说她们最初对使用环有顾虑。然而，只有少数女性在研究期间实际上报告了对环的担忧。最常见的担忧是环会在体内丢失（20%），这与研究地点、经常思考环以及报告环不太容易取出显著相关。定性数据表明，由于环感觉安全放置、在日常活动中不易察觉、并且在性行为中感觉“正常”，告知者越来越喜欢环。环对女性和男性似乎都非常可接受。对这种新方法的最初担忧表明，在引入 VR 时需要加强产品咨询。
