Mutowo Jesca, Kasu Christine Mary, Mufunda Esther
Department of Health Sciences, Zimbabwe Open University, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Department of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Pan Afr Med J. 2014 Apr 20;17:300. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2014.17.300.3282. eCollection 2014.
Gender related vulnerability may increase women's susceptibility to HIV infection and unintended pregnancy. The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between women empowerment and practices regarding use of dual protection.
A non-experimental descriptive correlational study design was conducted using systematic sampling method to recruit eighty women aged 18-49 years at an urban clinic in Zimbabwe. Data was collected using a structured interview schedule and was analysed and presented using descriptive and inferential statistics.
A weak positive significant correlation existed between women empowerment and use of dual protection (r= .242, p=0.03). Findings demonstrated that as women empowerment levels increase practices regarding use of dual protection also increase. The coefficient of determination, R2=.0.058, b=0.293, indicated that the total amount of variation in utilization of dual protection explained by level of women empowerment was 5.8%. The major finding was that use of dual protection was very low (3.8%) and 67.5% had low levels of practices regarding use of dual protection. Additionally, 85.0% were not confident of using the female condom.
Gender inequality within sexual relations was associated with low levels of practices regarding use of dual protection. The study provided evidence for the need for a proactive integrated approach to empower women so that they could negotiate for safer sex practices. To increase female condom utilization, manufacturers need to redesign the female condom so that it becomes user friendly. Health personnel need to involve men for any health reproductive program to succeed.
与性别相关的脆弱性可能会增加女性感染艾滋病毒和意外怀孕的易感性。本研究的目的是探讨女性赋权与双重保护措施使用之间的关系。
采用非实验性描述性相关研究设计，运用系统抽样方法在津巴布韦一家城市诊所招募了80名年龄在18至49岁之间的女性。使用结构化访谈提纲收集数据，并使用描述性和推断性统计方法进行分析和呈现。
女性赋权与双重保护措施的使用之间存在微弱的正相关关系（r = 0.242，p = 0.03）。研究结果表明，随着女性赋权水平的提高，双重保护措施的使用也会增加。决定系数R² = 0.058，b = 0.293，表明女性赋权水平对双重保护措施使用差异的总解释率为5.8%。主要发现是双重保护措施的使用率非常低（3.8%），67.5%的女性在双重保护措施使用方面的实践水平较低。此外，85.0%的女性对使用女用避孕套没有信心。
性关系中的性别不平等与双重保护措施使用方面的低实践水平相关。该研究为需要采取积极主动的综合方法来增强女性权能提供了证据，以便她们能够就更安全的性行为进行协商。为了提高女用避孕套的使用率，制造商需要重新设计女用避孕套，使其更便于使用。卫生人员需要让男性参与任何健康生殖项目才能取得成功。
