Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
medicine
High acceptability of a vaginal ring intended as a microbicide delivery method for HIV prevention in African women
AIDS and Behavior, Volume 16, No. 7, Year 2012
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
Vaginal rings (VRs) are new methods for continuous delivery of microbicides. This is the first study to quantitatively and qualitatively explore the acceptability of rings in Africa: 157 HIV-negative, sexually active women aged 18-35 used a placebo silicone elastomer ring for 12 weeks. They completed product acceptability questionnaires every 4 weeks. We conducted 6 exit focus group discussions with a subset of 48 women and 19 in-depth interviews with male partners. Retention in the study was high (97 %). Initial insertion at the clinic was successful on first attempt for 81 % of participants. Most women were comfortable using the ring, and very few (B2 %) could feel it during daily activities or had ringrelated physical or emotional problems. In the qualitative interviews many participants reported that they initially had concerns about using the ring. However, only a minority of women actually reported concerns with the ring during the study. The most frequent concern was that the ring would get lost inside the body (20 %), and this was significantly correlated with study site, frequently thinking about the ring and reporting that the ring was not very easy to remove. Qualitative data suggest that informants grew to like the ring because it felt securely placed, was unnoticeable during daily activities, and felt "normal" during sex. The ring appeared to be highly acceptable for women and men. Initial concerns with this novel method suggest a need for enhanced product counseling when VRs are introduced. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012.
Authors & Co-Authors
van der Straten, Ariane
United States, Research Triangle Park
Rti International
United States, San Francisco
Ucsf Center for Aids Prevention Studies
Montgomery, Elizabeth T.
United States, Research Triangle Park
Rti International
Cheng, Helen Y.
United States, Research Triangle Park
Rti International
Wegner, L.
United States, Research Triangle Park
Rti International
Masenga, Gileard Gabriel
Tanzania
Kiliminjaro Christian Medical Center
von Mollendorf, Claire E.
South Africa, Johannesburg
University of the Witwatersrand Faculty of Health Sciences
Bekker, Linda-Gail Gail
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
Ganesh, Shay
South Africa, Tygerberg
South African Medical Research Council
Young, Katherine
United States, Silver Spring
International Partnership for Microbicides
Romano, Joseph W.
United States, Wayne
Nwj Group, Llc
Nel, Annaléne M.
United States, Silver Spring
International Partnership for Microbicides
Woodsong, Cynthia
United States, Silver Spring
International Partnership for Microbicides
Statistics
Citations: 105
Authors: 12
Affiliations: 8
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1007/s10461-012-0215-0
ISSN:
10907165
Research Areas
Health System And Policy
Infectious Diseases
Study Approach
Qualitative
Participants Gender
Male
Female