Cultural differences in acceptability of a vaginal microbicide: a comparison between potential users from Nashville, Tennessee, USA, and Kafue and Mumbwa, Zambia

Abstract

Purpose

We sought to determine the relationship between acceptability of a hypothetical vaginal microbicide, cultural factors, and perceived HIV risk among African-American women in Nashville, TN, USA, and African women in Kafue and Mumbwa, Zambia.

Patients and methods

Women in both sites completed a survey. Regression analyses were performed on valid samples (Nashville, 164; Zambia, 101) to determine cultural differences affecting microbicide acceptability. Regression analyses also tested whether individual risk perception affected acceptability.

Results

In Zambia, 89.6% of women were willing to use a microbicide versus 81.6% in Nashville (P < 0.0001). One cultural difference is that women in the Zambian cohort viewed risk of HIV infection as distinct from risk of acquiring STIs, with 48% believing they were certain to become infected with AIDS, compared to 4% of Nashville participants.

Conclusion

These results suggest a high degree of acceptability toward use of a vaginal microbicide to prevent HIV infection.

Keywords:

• HIV/AIDS
• women
• birth control
• sexually transmitted infections

Acknowledgments

We wish to acknowledge the survey participants. This study was supported in part from grants P20RR11792, G12RR003032, and U54RR022762. This paper is a result of the cooperation and collaboration between Nashville and Zambia. In Nashville, we wish to acknowledge the support of the staff in the Center for Women’s Health Research and the Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College. In Zambia, sincere gratitude goes to the Provincial, District Directors, and members of staff from Kafue and Mumbwa districts hospitals, participants, and their staff for facilitating the undertaking of the study. We thank Debra Hughes for editorial support.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.