Knowledge, Attitude and Beliefs of the Patients about Condom use as Seen in Mulago Referral Hospital, Uganda, between 2008-2011

This was cross sectional, descriptive laboratory based study, whose objective was to determine knowledge, attitude and beliefs of the patients about condom use and its associated benefits. The study was done at Assessment Center, Mulago Referral Hospital, Uganda. The sample size of 113 was calculated for the study and 100 participants enrolled for the study (74 males; 26 females). Their ages ranged between (16-63) years with mean age of 39.5. A structured questionnaire was used to capture the data from the participants after consenting. Findings showed that although all the respondents were aware of a condom, only 6% of the respondents with informal education were aware of it compared to 10% with primary education (p>0.05). Notably, 60.6% and 63.6% of the participants with secondary and tertiary education respectively, were aware of condom compared to those with informal and primary education (p<0.001). Thirty three percent of the respondents claimed to know how to use a condom and 67% claimed they did not know how to use it (p<0.001). Surprisingly, 60.6% of the respondents who claimed to know how to use condom had positive attitude towards condom use compared to 39.4% with negative attitude. Notably, 76.9% of the respondents with negative attitude felt that a condom "limits sexual satisfaction, while 61.5% were of the view that "condom has bad smell". However, 73% of the respondents believed that condom use could prevent STI/HIV transmission. In conclusion the majority of the patients with low education background did not know how to use a condom, although they were aware of it. The attitude and beliefs about condom use varied among the respondents. There is therefore a need to sensitize the communities about condom use and its associated benefits.