Are condom-promotion interventions reaching internal migrants in China? Integrated evidence from two cross-sectional surveys

ABSTRACT

Behavioral interventions containing behavior change techniques (BCTs) that do not reach the target populations sufficiently will fail to accomplish their desired outcome. To guide sexually transmitted infection prevention policy for internal migrants in China, this study examines the extent to which BCTs aiming at increasing condom use reach the migrants and investigates the preference of the target population for these techniques among 364 migrants and 44 healthcare workers (HCWs) in Shenzhen, China. The results show that condom-promotion techniques that had been offered by HCWs to internal migrants reached a limited proportion of the population (range of reach ratio: 17.6–55.0%), although there appears to be a good match between what is offered and what is preferred by Chinese internal migrants regarding condom-promotion techniques (rank difference ≤ 1). Our findings highlight the need to increase the reach of condom-promotion techniques among Chinese internal migrants, and suggest techniques that are likely to reach the target population and match their preferred health education approaches.

KEYWORDS:

• Behavioral change techniques
• intervention uptake
• personal preference
• domestic migration
• sexually transmitted infection prevention
• China

Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the cooperation of participants, the mangers of the involved fields, and the substantial support from Dr Zhao Zhiguang along the survey among healthcare workers, support from Dr Zhao Jing and Dr Chen Lin along the survey among the internal migrants.

Ethical approval: The questionnaires were anonymous and were approved by the Ethics Committee of Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The participating district Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave permission for the questionnaire to be administered, and verbal informed consent was obtained from all participants. Confidentiality of the participants was ensured at all stages of research and reporting.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was made possible with support from Shenzhen Municipal Science and Technology Project [JCYJ20130329103949638] in China, and the Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The funding source had no role in study design, data analysis, or preparation of the manuscript.