Achieving the Optimal Vaginal State: Using Vaginal Products and Study Gels in Uganda, Zimbabwe, and South Africa

ABSTRACT

Preferences and practices related to the vaginal condition have implications for the use of vaginal HIV prevention products. The authors used qualitative methods to explore narratives relating to the vaginal state amongst women in South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe who had previously participated in a biomedical HIV prevention trial. They investigated women's behaviors related to optimizing the vaginal state, experiences and perceptions of the gel's effect on the vaginal state and on penile-vaginal intercourse, women's narratives on male partner perceptions, and how preferences relating to the vaginal state may have interfered with gel use.

KEYWORDS:

• Reproductive health
• women
• HIV/AIDS
• HIV prevention
• qualitative studies
• vagina

Acknowledgment

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Funding

The Microbicide Trials Network is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (UM1AI068633, UM1AI068615, UM1AI106707), with co-funding from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute of Mental Health, all components of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.