The role of men in women's acceptance of an intravaginal gel in a randomized clinical trial in Blantyre, Malawi: a qualitative and quantitative analysis

Abstract

Survey questionnaires and focus group discussions were used to investigate the association between a female participant's acceptance and her perception of her male partner's acceptance of an intravaginal gel as a prototype microbicide. Women who perceived their male partners would accept using the gel were more likely to highly accept the gel as compared to women who perceived their male partners would not accept using the gel (OR=24.57; 95%CI: 16.49–36.61). Qualitative analysis supported a positive association between female acceptability and perceived male partner acceptability. Qualitative research reiterated this finding and also found that men and women had different approaches to assess gel acceptability. Women integrated perceptions of their partner's acceptance into their own acceptability and reported their partners had positive experiences. In contrast, men reported a more neutral experience with the gel and assessed the gel without overt consideration of their partner's experiences. These results indicate that female perceptions of male partner acceptability and actual male partner acceptability need to be considered when addressing female-controlled product acceptability and use.

Keywords:

• acceptability
• microbicide
• HIV/AIDS prevention
• gender

Acknowledgements

We thank the women who participated in this study. We also thank the College of Medicine-Johns Hopkins University Research Project staff for their excellent collaboration. This research was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.