KaiHei So
Abstract
The last time I used a condom, and as I have had during the last sexual intercourse, have proved to be a proxy for consistent examined study of condom usage. As put forward by many individuals, the results of using a condom have shown a proximate factor that is used to determine condom use by organizations who deal with health matters. The sexual activities of people within an average age of 30 respond actively to organizations that study on HIV/AIDs, Sexually Transmitted diseases among other influences of unprotected sex. This research shows that about 24% percent of sexually active and capable of reproduction use a condom. In contrast, about 76% percent did not used condoms during the last sex. In various locations of the earth, people have proved to greatly improve family planning by use of a condom as the one and the only way of managing families, especially in African countries. Statistics have concluded that evolution of condom use, understanding effects and predictors of condom use are critically leading to decreased cases of deaths from sexually transmitted diseases. Although the use of condom has increased in many parts of the world, this research puts forward some shocking results which in turn pose the need for an action to curb this trend.
Condom Use
Introduction
There are approximately 12 million individuals in United States who are affected by Sexually transmitted diseases every year. STDs result in the death or stunted growth of a baby if the mother is infected, tubal pregnancies, cancer, damage to body parts, and may also cause death of the infected person. Therefore, in order to prevent unwanted pregnancy, the transmission of diseases and to keep away from developing such fatal illnesses, the use of condom is widely advised as it is the fundamental control of STDs and hence an effective way to prevent this epidemic. Correct and consistent use of condoms is one thing among the many encouraged by the various health bodies which show that effective prevention of HIV/AIDs is only achieved by the proper use of a condom. Regardless of this, many people ignore this message and are incessantly involved in putting themselves at a greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted disease (Carey & Lyth, 2004).
There are a number of reasons for preferring the use of a condom over other methods for preventing STDs, unwanted pregnancy and other consequences of unprotected sex. As a matter of fact, there is a fluctuating rate of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDs across several parts of the globe merely because of the changing behavior with respect to sexual activities. World Health Organization (WHO) along with AIDSCAP and several other organizations have put in enormous efforts in preaching the use of condoms during every sexual intercourse. In their campaigns, they prescribe doses for HIV/AIDs infected people and provide free and ready to use condoms. As compared to many other countries, their campaign is more concentrated in the most afflicted regions like the urban areas in African countries, India and South America. (Weller, B.K and Davis, D. 2001).
As a matter of fact, Cambodia has the highest rate of HIV rate in the region of Asia-Pacific. This high rate is mainly attributed to the transmission through large commercial sex. Looking at this, condom distribution greatly rose in the region from 99,000 sold in the year 1994 to approximately 19 million distributed in 2001. Consequently, the rate of STDs significantly dropped and hence the prevalence of HIV among the masses was also reduced. In contrast, although there are many studies which point out at the effectiveness of the use of condom, Peltzer (2000) is of the opinion that the university students in Uganda and Kenya do not incorporate the use of condoms in their sexual practices. Although the rise of HIV has been addressed in several parts of the world merely through the use of condoms, there are many individuals who are at a distance from the use of a condom. For this reason, there is a dire need to address and investigate the factors which influence the use of condom. Although studies reveal interpersonal, structural, interventional, behavioral, demographics and several other factors in influencing the use of condoms, there are inconsistent findings about the way in which these and other factors influence the use of condoms. Thus, the aim of this research is to analyze the impact of gender, race and education on the use of condoms because these are some of the basic determinants which would affect every individual when it comes to their use of condoms.
Literature Review
Education
HIV and AIDs are seen to profoundly affect the youth of America and Africa. As a matter of fact, the prevalence of the sexually transmitted diseases varies in this age group mainly because of the education and the level of awareness they receive. In this regard, the level of education is one of the most important factors which influence condom usage.
The existing literature provides a mixed and an inconsistent use of condoms and the consequent prevalence of STDs across the youth. While some studies put forward the idea that children are at a distance from STDs as compared to the young individuals, other works suggest that individuals between 15-24 years are at a lower risk of developing these diseases because of their safer sex practices. These studies stress upon the difference of education as a determinant of HIV prevalence. Regardless of the findings of old studies, the research conducted by the World Food Program (2006) examines the case of Uganda, Zambia and other countries at high HIV risk. The findings of this study propose a positive correlation between the level of education and the use of condoms. The previous belief of a direct link between education level and HIV prevalence is now seen to be negative. The rural Ugandan individuals with secondary education were at a lower risk of developing HIV as compared to those without education. Similarly, research suggests that education results in healthier and safer sex practices along with abstinence and the changes in behavioral pattern. As a result, the study revealed that a rise in the education level results in an increase in the use of condoms. This was verified by the findings conducted in the African region where as compared to individuals that have or were receiving lower levels of education, individuals having higher level of education were more indulged in safer sex practices; most importantly, the use of a condom. Although it may be seen that older individuals have more sexual experience and stable relationships, it is the level of awareness along with the high education level which governs this sexual behavior (World Food Program, 2006).
Gender
Since gender is one of the major factors which influence the use of condoms, researchers are of the opinion that females are more likely to use condoms as compared to males. Also, it is believed that many women will engage in sex if a man is willing to use a condom. In contrast, if a woman fails to convenience his man, she ultimately ends up engaging in an unprotected sexual behavior. Moreover, the youth does not show much concern about protected sex. Neither the girls nor the boys will constrain each other to use a condom for their safety and hence this may be accredited to gender expectations which vary on the basis of time and culture (Carey and Lyth, 2004).
A research done by Bledsoe and Cohen (1993) shows that women do not only prefer using a condom as a substitute to other contraceptives having side effects, but they may be more willing to use condoms as compared to their male counterparts (Bledsoe and Cohen, 1993). Various gender ideologies interfere with sexual conducts as people seek to perform things in different ways that seem consistent with concepts of virility and boyhood or feminism.
Race
Sexual interaction between different races has led to increased usage of condoms in various parts of the world. This is well seen in the Southern America like Cuba among others. It is believed that people far away from your homeland, say a different tribe, clan or social ethical group when they interact sexually they most likely use condoms because of fear of unknown.
Report by USAID found out that many African countries urban areas have experienced rapid growth in HIV/AIDS infection in the last ten years. This is because they ignored condoms usage and viewed the generosity of free condom distribution at their premises as a way for the condom companies to make money.
Condom habits differ on the basis of race. Although this is a newly studied realm, research shows that the trends of using condoms vary across Blacks, Whites, Hispanics and other such races. Studies reveal that although individuals belonging to every race uses contraceptives to prevent any harmful consequences of unprotected sex, their methods vary on the basis of racial, ethnic and identity differences. In this regard, research reveals as compared to the 96 percent of white women and 97 % of black women in USA, Hispanic women are less likely to use condoms in their sexual practices. This difference is accounted to the norm of early child bearing amongst the Hispanics and blacks and also because of the fact that whites have a greater advantage of receiving better health care facilities as compared to the rest (Kaye, K. 2009). Studies have presented a mixed view in this regard. While at one hand research proclaims that blacks are not seen to be involved in risky sexual behaviors, it also puts forward the idea that one in every 22 Black American is expected to get HIV because of the communities in which they live. These places have high rate of HIV where sharing a needle and having an intercourse becomes risky. In contrast, studies suggest that majority of the black teenagers use condoms where females are seen to use it at an early age as compared to males. However, with age the condom usage declines as other contraceptive measures come in practice and because relationships tend to stabilize (Kaye, K. 2009).
Thus, there are a number of factors which influence the use of condoms amongst individuals. The existing literature had pointed out a number of determinants such as age, sex, family background, income level, along with a number of other causes which affect sexual practices. This study has specifically focused upon factors such as gender, race and the education level of individuals as these are the most important and basic reasons which should be studied in order to understand the sexual behavior and condom usage of individuals.
Hypotheses
Ho1: There is no association between the level of education and condom usage.
Ha1: There is a positive association between the level of education and condom usage
Ho2: Blacks are unlikely to use condoms as compared to the white individuals
Ha2: Blacks are more likely to use condoms as compared to the white individuals
Ho3: Females do not prefer to use condoms more than males.
Ha3: Females prefer to use condoms more than males.
Methods
The general social survey was conducted by national research centre for the purpose of gathering data and information about the condom usage, in order to create awareness to the selected group so as to control the spread of HIV/AIDS.
the selected survey samples was drawn from a random sample of high school, junior colleges and undergraduate students.2044 students were selected for the research but only 1756 students responded to the questions. Sampling probability technique was used for the study (Davis & Smith 2001).
Materials
Materials used involved formatted questionnaire that was submitted to the people. The questionnaire contains a series of question which will help to answer the research questions. The question used to measure dependent value was whether the respondent used condom during his last sexual intercourse. The survey also asked questions regarding to independent variables such as level of education, race and gender. On their return, the questionnaires were grouped together, reviewed and then rephrased into interviewed questions (Weller & Davis, 2001).
Procedures
SPSS was used to analyze the data collected. Missing values was deleted for consistency purposes and all variables like age, gender, level of education; race was recorded to two values to produce a contingency table for analysis. The cases collected was then analyzed using frequency table and then crosstabs function was used to create contingency table followed by calculation of Chi square which will be used to test null hypothesis (Weller & Davis, 2001).
Results
Frequency table was generated to determine the result of condom usage. It explains the frequency and the percentage of those people who did not used condom during their last sexual intercourse. Out of 1756 people who responded to the question 76.2% of them did not used condom while only 23.8% used condom during their last sexual intercourse.
Examination of independent variable, gender, reveals that 42.1% of males and 44.1% of females used condom during their last sexual intercourse while 57.9% of males and 55.9% of females did not used condom.
For races 55.6% of white race and62.5% of black used condom while44.4% of white and37.5% of black did not used condom. Lastly For educational level 15.9% of high school, 81% of graduate used condom while 84.1% of high school, 19% of graduate didn’t used condom.
Chi square is reported in terms of significance which will help us whether we can reject or accept the null hypothesis. And any difference between the expected and observed values is thoroughly investigated to find the real cause of divergence (Weller and Davis, 2001).
In the case of the first hypothesis, null hypothesis shows that there is no relationship between the level of education and condom use whereas the alternate hypothesis shows that there is a positive relationship between the level of education and condom use. As per the literature referred, the use of condoms rises with the increase in the education level of an individual. This idea is verified by the results of this study which demonstrate that 84.1 % of the individuals with a lower education level (high school) do not use condoms as compared to 19% of individuals who have received higher education (university graduates). For this reason, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternate hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between level of education and condom use is held true. The significance is shown by chi square statistical analysis (x2=132, df=1,p>1).
As hypothesized that black individuals are more likely to use condoms as compared to whites, results show that 44.4% of white did not use condom as compared to 37.5% of blacks, where only 29 black individuals did not use a condom. Therefore the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternate hypothesis is accepted. The Chi square helps us to exhibit this significance (x2=46.32,df=2,p>1)
The last hypothesis is that females prefer to use condoms more as compared to males. The expected number of men who did not use a condom was 344 but the real number of those who did not use a condom was only 238. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and the alternate hypothesis that females tend to use condom more often than males is held true. Chi square helps to exhibit this significance(x2=9.307 df=1,p<001)
Discussion
There exists a common stereotype majority of the people who are seduced into their first sexual intercourse by their partners fail to use condoms at sexual intercourse. This is believed to be so as studies have shown proven records. Girls would rather not use a condom when mating with her boyfriend in this case, because the boy would simply dump her and within days, the boy gets another girlfriend. Some girls may also lack to enforce on condom usage because the men they mate with has money, power and fame. The girls take a chance to prove her love to this man by engaging into sexual relations without using a condom. This would automatically reveal the girls trust to a man. In some cases, boys would rather not use a condom because the girlfriend is good looking and within an instance where the boy disappoints this girl, then the girl is done with the boy. The two cases have a wide range of competition. Condom use is unpopular in rapists, sadists, criminals and other sexual offenders. These people do not have patience to let the captives decide whether he or she would use a condom or not. Neither do they neither request nor get into a consensus. The targets for these wild men and women are basically not ready and are expect no harm to occur to them. This means that, the offended do not have adequate time to prepare for the forced sexual intercourse.
The perception of condom use varies from a person to another. A church leader will support abstinence. This is because he or she believes that sex, whether protected or not, is ungodly at all cost. All attitudes expressed condemn sex, condom, sexual activities and anything to do with sex while they favor abstinence as the only way to avoid risks of infection. Reacting from various coalescing pressure, abstinence is viewed as a better way for reducing HIV risk. This perception is instilled in people’s minds as derived from the ways of the church.
It was hypothesized that condom usage rises with the increase in the education level. Results signify this relationship as the use of condoms was higher amongst university graduates as compared to those in schools and colleges. The difference may be accounted for a number of reasons such as sexual experience with age, the curiosity and high urge of sex among younger individuals, the quality of relationship and the quest of proving love to the partner. In essence all such factors are governed by the level of education and awareness which result in different sexual behaviors. Therefore, there is a dire need to improve the quality of the education being delivered to the students especially those studying at schools and colleges so that the risk of STDs, unwanted pregnancy along with other hazardous consequence of unsafe sex could be clearly explained to the youth. The second hypothesis states that black people tend to use condoms more than the whites. This assumption was made on the basis of mixed and inconsistent literature findings which present different views on the way racial differences influence the use of condoms. However the finding of this research shows that a higher percentage of blacks used more condoms as compared to the whites.
The third hypothesis states that females are more likely to use condom as compared to males, however from the research findings we found out that many males use condoms as compared to females. The null hypothesis is therefore rejected and from the research we can conclude that Males are most likely to use as compares to females.
Race, gender and education levels are some of the factors that influence the condom use, therefore the government and other organization that deal with prevention and control of HIV/AIDS should put a lot of emphasis on the group that have high percentage of people that does not use condoms.
This research however may not reflect the correct results due to some errors. The dependent variable was only concerned with last time the respondent had sex but not how frequently he uses condoms. Also the sample size is too small to give us the correct reflection of the total population.
The result of the survey can therefore be improved by increasing the sample size and also changing the dependent variable from only one session to include four to five sessions.
References
Bledsoe, C.H, & Cohen, B. (1993). Social Dynamics Fertility in Sub Saharan Africa. Washington DC: National Academy Press
Carey, G.N., & Lytle, C.R. (2004). Implications of laboratory test of condom integrity. Sex Transm Dis, 26(4), 216-220.
Davis, J. A., Smith, T. W., & Marsden, P. V. (2009). General social surveys, 1972-2008: Cumulative Codebook
Kaye, K. (2009). The fog zone: How misperceptions, magical thinking, and ambivalence put young adults at risk for unplanned pregnancy. Washington, DC: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.
Peltzer, K. (2000). Factors affecting condom use among South African university students. East African Medical Journal, 77(1), 46-52.
Weller, B.K. & Davis, D. (2001). Condom Effectiveness in reducing heterosexual HIV Transmission. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (1). Cochrane: Irvine Press.
World Food Program. (2006). Impact of education levels on HIV/AIDs prevalence rate.WFP.
