TY - JOUR
T1 - Knowledge on voluntary medical male circumcision in a low uptake setting in northern Uganda
AU - Nanteza, Barbara Marjorie
AU - Serwadda, David
AU - Kankaka, Edward Nelson
AU - Mongo, Grace Bua
AU - Gray, Ronald
AU - Makumbi, Frederick Edward
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by a Fogarty grant through the Rakai Health Science Program, the African Population and Health Research Centre, and personal resources from the corresponding author.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/11/20
Y1 - 2018/11/20
N2 - Background: Free VMMC services have been available in Uganda since 2010. However, uptake in Northern Uganda remains disproportionately low. We aimed to determine if this is due to men's insufficient knowledge on VMMC, and if women's knowledge on VMMC has any association with VMMC status of their male sexual partners. Methods: In this cross sectional study, participants were asked their circumcision status (or that of their male sexual partner for female respondents) and presented with 14 questions on VMMC benefits, procedure, risk, and misconceptions. Chi square tests or fisher exact tests were used to compare circumcision prevalence among those who gave correct responses versus those who failed to and if p < 0.05, the comparison groups were balanced with propensity score weights in modified poisson models to estimate prevalence ratios, PR. Results: A total of 396 men and 50 women were included in the analyses. Circumcision was 42% less prevalent among males who failed to reject the misconception that VMMC reduces sexual performance (PR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.38-0.89, p = 0.012), and less prevalent among male sexual partners of females who failed to reject the same misconception (PR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.07-0.76, p = 0.016). Circumcision was also 35% less prevalent among male respondents who failed to reject the misconception that VMMC increases a man's desire for more sexual partners i.e. promiscuity (PR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.46-0.92, p = 0.014). Conclusion: Misconceptions regarding change in sexual drive or performance were associated with circumcision status in this population, while knowledge of VMMC benefits, risks and procedure was not.
AB - Background: Free VMMC services have been available in Uganda since 2010. However, uptake in Northern Uganda remains disproportionately low. We aimed to determine if this is due to men's insufficient knowledge on VMMC, and if women's knowledge on VMMC has any association with VMMC status of their male sexual partners. Methods: In this cross sectional study, participants were asked their circumcision status (or that of their male sexual partner for female respondents) and presented with 14 questions on VMMC benefits, procedure, risk, and misconceptions. Chi square tests or fisher exact tests were used to compare circumcision prevalence among those who gave correct responses versus those who failed to and if p < 0.05, the comparison groups were balanced with propensity score weights in modified poisson models to estimate prevalence ratios, PR. Results: A total of 396 men and 50 women were included in the analyses. Circumcision was 42% less prevalent among males who failed to reject the misconception that VMMC reduces sexual performance (PR = 0.58, 95% CI 0.38-0.89, p = 0.012), and less prevalent among male sexual partners of females who failed to reject the same misconception (PR = 0.22, 95% CI = 0.07-0.76, p = 0.016). Circumcision was also 35% less prevalent among male respondents who failed to reject the misconception that VMMC increases a man's desire for more sexual partners i.e. promiscuity (PR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.46-0.92, p = 0.014). Conclusion: Misconceptions regarding change in sexual drive or performance were associated with circumcision status in this population, while knowledge of VMMC benefits, risks and procedure was not.
KW - Circumcision
KW - Knowledge
KW - Misconception
KW - Sexual function
KW - Sub-Saharan Africa
KW - Uganda
KW - VMMC
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85056697341&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85056697341&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1186/s12889-018-6158-2
DO - 10.1186/s12889-018-6158-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 30453966
AN - SCOPUS:85056697341
SN - 1471-2458
VL - 18
JO - BMC public health
JF - BMC public health
IS - 1
M1 - 1278
ER -