Partner-specific condom use behavior and the influencing factors: A muti-perspective study

The advantage of condom use for preventing HIV has been limited by people's selective use with different partners: more use with casual partners than with primary partners. The different rates of condom use with different partners imply the different influencing factors associated with partner types. The present study estimates the partner-specific condom use rates among Chinese adults and investigates the influencing factors from a multi-perspective: individual, partnership and socio-cultural environment. Research and program implications are discussed upon the findings.

The study used data from the Chinese Health and Family Planning Survey, a nationally representative probability sample of the adult population aged 20-64 in China mainland. The study is guided by both the social ecological theory and the gender and power theory in formulating the research hypotheses and selecting variables. Hierarchical model is applied to deal with the examination on multilevel factors.

The preliminary analysis results show that the condom use rate with primary partner is 5.1% among women and 8.1% among men, while the use rate with casual partner is 12.7% among women and 35.0% among men. Condom use with primary partners is associated with the intention of preventing pregnancy, exclusivity of partners, as well as the socio-cultural norms regarding to gender status and gender roles. In contrast, condom use with casual partners is associated with the instant interactions between partners.

The findings have implications for developing partner-specific interventions for HIV prevention.