Baseline and Post-Intervention Assessment of Knowledge, Accessibility and Condoms Use in an African Rural Community

Introduction: Unprotected sexual intercourse is the most common mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS and other STIs in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of health interventions on the knowledge, accessibility and condom use in an African rural community Methodology: This is a quantitative survey that used a structured questionnaire among a representative sample of the general population aged 15 – 49 years. The data obtained include the demographics; age, sex, education, occupation, marital status, and information related to condom use. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. Result: The baseline survey comprised 1021 (53.3%) males and 895 (46.7%) females while the final survey comprised 659 (54.2%) males and 556 (45.7%) females. Just 5.1% and 5.0% of the respondents in the baseline survey said female condoms are accessible and affordable but the values rose to 23.0% and 33.0% in the post-intervention survey. The overall usage of male condoms in the study population at the baseline was 41.9% and 58.8% in the final survey. The use of male condoms was very low among adolescents aged 15 -24 years (37.3%), uneducated (8.0%), primary education (27.4%), and the singles (47.5%). These values to 57.1%, 40.7%, 54.0%, and 60.4% respectively in post-intervention survey. The overall uptake of female condoms was 4.5% at the baseline survey and slightly increased to 11.8% at the post-intervention survey with the highest improvement seen among uneducated (from 3.2% to 36.4%). Due to the interventions, significantly improved confidence and correct use of condoms were observed among the uneducated (5.6% to 26.7%), had primary education (19.1% to 30.1%) but no effect was seen associated with marital status, sex, and age. Conclusion: This study found a very high knowledge of male condoms among the respondent, both before and after the health intervention. However, there was very poor knowledge of female condoms, and the use of both condoms. We, therefore, advocate more intervention to include awareness creation, talks, Television and radio programs, counseling and free supply of female condoms to promote the prevention of STIs and HIV in the community.