Risky Sexual Behaviors and Condom Use Barriers in Iranian Women with Substance Use Disorders

Abstract

Background: Scant information exists on Iranian women's protective behaviors mainly constant condom use. Inconsistent condom use seems prevalent among women with substance use problems. We aimed to investigate risky sexual behaviors (RSBs) and condom use barriers in Iranian women with substance use disorders (SUDs).
 Methods: In our cross-sectional study, we recruited 300 women who sought treatments for their SUDs from the active outpatient drug free (ODF) and Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) centers in Tehran, Iran during 2017-2021. We used three batteries including demographic questionnaire, the Risky Sexual Behavior Questionnaire (RSBQ); and the Condom Barriers Scale (CBS). The statistical software R, analysis of variance post hoc and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) logistic regression tests were used in data analysis
 Results: The majority reported at least one lifetime experience of RSBs. Our results show that only 22% of the participants 'always' use condom in their sexual encounters. The lowest and highest subscale scores of the CBS were related to Sexual Experience (SE) (2.47 ± 0.86) and access/availability structure (3.52 ± 0.7), respectively. RSBs had negative significant association with Partner Barrier (PB) subscale scores (OR = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.22 to 0.73) and effect on SE subscale scores (OR= 0.54; 95% CI: 0.31 to 0.94).
 Conclusion: RSBs was prevalent among our study population. RSBs and condom use barriers are significantly interwoven. The condom use barriers were highly associated with the types of sexual encounters such as group sex or casual sexual relations than specific mean of sexual performance (i.e. anal sex). Gender-specific RSBs, STIs/HIV/AIDS prevention program is recommended for women with SUDs.

How is Intimate Partner Violence associated with Sexually Transmitted Infections and Reproductive Tract Infections? A Cross-Sectional Study with Afghan Refugee Women in Iran

“…By using a standardized questionnaire (40), the help-seeking behaviors related to the RTI/STI-associated symptoms among participants were investigated. For assessing protective behaviors for RTI/STI, some questions from the previous questionnaire (40) along with the modi ed version of part 3 of the 'Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women' instrument were asked (29). This questionnaire was developed by the World Health Organization for public health research in different cultures, with a focus on interpersonal violence (29).…”