Condom use among patients attending six sexually transmitted disease clinics in Switzerland.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Persons treated for a sexually transmitted disease have been shown to be at increased risk for human immunodeficiency virus infection. Levels of condom use among these patients are presented, and sociodemographic and behavioral factors associated with self-reported never use of condoms are analyzed.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study of 2,257 patients treated at six sexually transmitted disease clinics in Switzerland between July 1990 and December 1992.

RESULTS

Overall, 46.3% of the patients reported that they had never used condoms. Among heterosexual men, this level was 48.3% (n = 1,751), among homosexual and bisexual men it was 21.6% (n = 268), and among heterosexual women it was 60.1% (n = 238). In a logistic multivariate regression analysis, factors significantly associated with never use of condoms among heterosexual men included age over 29 years, not of Swiss origin, low level of education, few partners in the previous 6 months, contraction of the sexually transmitted disease from a stable partner, and not being an injecting drug user.

CONCLUSION

These results document the high levels of condoms never being used in this population and highlight the importance of condom promotion activities provided by sexually transmitted disease clinics.