Assessing condom-related knowledge and attitudes utilizing condom video demonstrations

Background: Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain one of the most disproportionately impacted groups by HIV and STIs in the US. To date, several community-based organizations have produced safer sex and condom demonstration videos as part of STI and HIV prevention. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of explicit and non-explicit educational videos with a focus on condom-related knowledge and attitude among a large sample of MSM. Methods: Participants were recruited via an email message sent to members of a large social/sexual internet site for MSM. Study participants were randomly assigned to watch one of seven condom/safer sex demonstration videos, including 2 control videos. Condom-related knowledge was assessed with a brief 7-item scale, and condom-related attitude was examined using the 14-item Multi-Factor Attitude toward Condoms Scale (MFACS), both before and after the condom demonstration video. Results: Data were collected from 6,850 men across the US. A significant difference (p < .001) was found between the condom-related knowledge of the control group (M = 10.66, SD = 3.07) and the experimental group (M = 12.55, SD = 2.33). A significant difference (p < .05) also existed between the MFACS scores, with the experimental group demonstrating a significantly higher score than the control group. Conclusions: These results highlight the importance of content used in condom demonstrations to increase condom knowledge and attitudes. Future public health efforts should consider the use of video and new media as part of comprehensive STI/HIV programming.