Utilization of Female Condoms among Women Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) in Murang’a County, Kenya
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Date
2025-09
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
To prevent the risk of transmission of the Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), as well as achieve family planning targets, the use of Female Condom, a women-initiated method, has been prioritized across the globe. Nevertheless, knowledge regarding utilization of Female Condoms among HIV positive women remains inconclusive. The main objective of this study was to establish the utilization of Female Condom (FC) among women living with HIV (WLHIV) in Murang’a County, Kenya. The study concentrated on a number of objectives that included assessment of the level of knowledge, Consistent utilization and establishing the factors that influence the use of female condoms in Murang’a County. This study adopted Analytical cross-sectional survey design. A total of 204 women living with HIV (WLHIV) were recruited in the study. Multi-stage sampling was conducted to get three participating Sub-Counties and three clinics. Purposive and systematic sampling techniques were used to select the County, WLHIV and healthcare workers. Structured questionnaires, interviews schedule and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were generated using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. The association between variables was determined using Pearson's Chi-square test at a significance level of p≤0.05. The response rate was 100%. The study revealed that most of the respondents 93.1% had heard about female condoms whereas 57.8% admitted to have ever seen the pack. Women’s knowledge on correct fitting of female condoms was not significantly affected by the age (χ2 = 5.093, P = 0.273), education level (χ2 = 7.348, P = 0.119), marital status (χ2 = 3.624, P = 0.605) nor religion (χ2 = 4.628, P = 0.104). The findings showed that 71.4% of younger women, aged 21 - 30 years, 66% of University graduates, divorced (71.4%) and Catholic (57.1%) women had the knowledge on how to correctly fit the FC. A majority of those who supported that there is need for FC cited reasons related to protection and safety 105 (58 %). Women’s views that overall use of FC is easy had a significant association with their current utilization of device (χ2 = 10.689, P = 0.005). The result also found out that those who got advises from the doctor/nurse currently used the device (χ2 = 6.247, P = 0.012.) Only 17.6% revealed to have ever used while 14 (6.9%) put/insert the device all the time. Women who feel comfortable and those who notice no difference when using FC currently used them (χ2 = 25.397, P = 0.0001 and χ2 = 32.541, P = 0.0001 respectively). The WLHIV were of the opinion that female condoms are not readily available (43.1%), are expensive (42.2%) and women feel shy to buy them (41.7%). In conclusion, there was low level of consistent utilization of FC among WLHIV in the study area. The study findings will be useful to policy makers and other stakeholders during planning, developing, and managing targeted capacity building on HIV/STIs resource needs and unwanted pregnancies prevention measures.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Public Health (Epidemiology and Disease Control) in the School of Health Sciences of Kenyatta University, September 2025.
Supervisors
Dr. Judy Mugo- Department of Family medicine, Community Health and Epidemiology
Dr. Edna Nyang’echi- Department of Nursing and Clinical Studies