Determining the prevalence of Trichomonas Vaginalis as a possible marker of inconsistent in condom use

Abstract

A cross sectional study was carried out at Assessment Center, based at Mulago Hospital, to determine the prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis as a possible marker of inconsistent condom use among individuals. Its’ specific objectives were to: - determine the knowledge gaps, attitudes and beliefs of the community about condom use, determine the relative prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis among persons who do not use condoms and those who use condoms consistently.

One hundred participants aged 15-63 were enrolled in the study. A structured questionnaire was used to capture the data from the participants on the knowledge gap, attitude and beliefs about condom use. Each participant was asked to produce urine for Trichomonas vaginalis culture using InpouchTV. Each pouch was examined at 24 h, 48 h for 3 days. All the participants were aware of condom although 28% did not know how to use them. Seventy two percent (72%) claimed that they knew how to use condoms. Twenty percent (20%)of the participants with informal education claimed to know how to use a condom compared to 62.5% with primary education, 89.7% and 90.5% with secondary and tertiary education respectively (p<0.05). About 28% and 18% of the participants had positive and negative attitude towards condom use respectively. Others had neither positive nor negative attitude towards condom use. Seventy seven percent (77%) of the participants thought that condom limits sexual satisfaction and 62% thought that condom had a bad smell. Nine percent (9%) believed that condom can tear and remain in the vagina. Others believed that condom can cause pain (61%), leads to bleeding (55%) and prevents STI/HIV (73%).

Sixty six percent (66%) of the patients had had one sexual partner, while 16% had had more than two sexual partners during the time of the study. Nine of the participants had consistently used condom compared to 76 participants who had not used condom at all (p < 0.001).

The prevalence of Trichomonas vaginalis was found to be 8%. Six females and 2 males were infected with T. vaginalis. Of those that did not use condom, 8 participants had Trichomonas vaginalis while none of the participants who used condom consistently had Trichomonas vaginalis (p>0.05).

In conclusion the majority of the participants did not use condom although they were aware and knew how to use them. Trichomonas vaginalis is still a health problem in the communities. This study therefore recommends for more aggressive sensitization programmes to be put in place to sensitize communities about condom use and its associated benefits. Since the study involved a small sample, bigger studies should be carried out in the country.