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IU center reports rural women in South Carolina at risk for sexually transmitted diseases
Nov. 29, 2000
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Dec. 1 is World AIDS Day, dedicated to increasing AIDS awareness. A study recently published by Indiana University's Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention reflects the need for increased education on sexually transmitted diseases.
From February to July 1999, the IU Center for Survey Research conducted a random telephone survey of 328 rural South Carolina women between 18 and 39 years of age who reported that they had sex with a male within the past year. The survey found that 45 percent of the women demonstrated two or more at-risk sexual behaviors and some 20 percent reported three or more at-risk behaviors during a typical month of the past year.
The results of this survey were analyzed by the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, and the findings appeared in the current issue of the Health Education Monograph series published by Eta Sigma Gamma, a national professional health education honorary organization.
South Carolina was selected for the study because of its high rates of HIV/STD incidence. "In 1997, South Carolina reported more cases of gonorrhea and chlamydia than any other state or territory and the fourth highest number of primary and secondary syphilis cases," said William Yarber, senior director of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention, who directed the study.
The participants were from the four South Carolina counties of Chesterfield, Florence, Lancaster and Marion.
"These findings are significant, because women reporting more risk behaviors are more likely to report an STD infection," said Yarber, professor of applied health science in the IU School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation.
Yarber was assisted in the study by Stephanie Sanders, associate director of IU's Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, and Richard Crosby of Emory University.
"This study shows that HIV/STD prevention education for rural women should discuss all types of risk behaviors," Yarber said.
Examples of risky sexual behavior cited by Yarber include not using a condom for intercourse, oral sex, anal sex and intercourse during menstruation. Yarber said nine women in the South Carolina study reported being diagnosed with an STD infection in the past year.
Yarber noted that even though more than 90 percent of the women in the study had only one sex partner in the past year, they still may face risks. "Women with only one male sex partner have less risk than women with multiple male sex partners, but they still have some concerns because their partners may have other partners," he said.
He cited a recent study elsewhere reporting that 20 percent of sexually active women were at risk for HIV/STD because their male partners had two or more sexual partners, and that many of these women did not use condoms. Further, many of these women did not know that their partners also had other partners.
For more information on the South Carolina survey or STD/AIDS prevention in general, call Yarber at 812-855-7974.
(Richard Doty, 812-855-0084, rgdoty@indiana.edu)