Behavior assessment of women attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic in Vitória, Brazil.

BACKGROUND Studies about sexual risk behaviors can provide information to support design strategies to control the spread of HIV infection. OBJECTIVE To assess sexual risk behaviors among women attending a sexually transmitted diseases clinic in Vitória, Brazil. METHODS A cross-sectional study was performed among women attending an STD/AIDS reference center. Enrolled participants were interviewed and provided a blood sample to determine HIV status. RESULTS A total of 276 women participated. among 284 selected; 109 (39.5%) were HIV-positive and 167 (60.5%) HIV-negative. Median age was 31 years (interquartile range (IQR)24-36) and 69% of women were between 18 and 34 years of age. Women reported high access to information about STD (87%) and AIDS (90%) but information about sexuality was less common (55%). HIV-positive women asked their partners to use condoms more often than HIV-negatives (31% vs. 5%, p=0.02), and were more likely to have used a condom at last intercourse (65% vs. 33%, p<0.01). Among all patients, questions regarding risk of HIV transmission through sexual intercourse (99.6%) and needle sharing (99.2%) were most frequently answered correctly, while questions regarding risk of HIV transmission through blood donation (57%) were least. CONCLUSION Though this population reports easy access to information and services for HIV/sexually transmitted diseases, most report little understanding of unsafe sexual behaviors, particularly HIV-negative women.