Perception of risk, sexual behaviour and STD HIV prevalence in western Kenya

Objective: To determine the feasibility and acceptability of collecting dat a on sexual practices, knowledge, attitudes and perception of risk with reg ard to HIV and STD infection in two clinic populations. Design: A cross sectional survey carried out between June and July 1992. Setting: An urban and a rural health centre in western Kenya, Subjects: One hundred and sixty women attending Maternal Child Health (MCH) and Family P lanning Clinics (FP), Interventions: Screening STDs including N, gonorrhoea, C, trachomatis, T, v aginalis and syphilis. In addition subjects were interviewed about sexual p ractices, knowledge, attitudes and perception of risk with regard to HIV an d STD infection. Results: The presence of any STD including HIV was detected in 36.2% of wom en at the urban clinic and 21.2% of women at the rural clinic, The demograp hics of the two populations were similar with respect to age but were signi ficantly different for several variables including marital status, ethnicit y and education. Knowledge of STDs and HIV was nearly universal in both cli nic populations with >96% of patients being aware of the existence of such diseases. 76.3% of women at the urban clinic felt they could get an STD as compared to 48.8% at the rural clinic (p<0,02), This awareness of vulnerabi lity among the urban population was also seen for HIV, Conclusion: It appears to be feasible to conduct studies of sexual practice s and perceptions of risk for STD/HIV acquisition in women attending health centres in Kenya.