Page 144 - SAHCS HIVMed Journal Vol 20 No 1 2019

Page 4 of 7 Original Research

TABLE 1: Demographic characteristics, circumcision status and awareness about statistical significance in the univariate model and were then
medical male circumcision services (N = 136). taken into the multivariate model (Table 3).
Characteristics n %
How old are you? n = 135
17–20 years 37 27.1 Uncircumcised respondents ranked the following, in order
21–24 years 68 50.0 of importance, as reasons why they decided not to get
25–28 years 17 12.7 circumcised: (1) surgery complications or safety of MC
29+ years 14 10.2 (70.0%, n = 40), (2) MC does not guarantee 100% protection
What is your marital status? n = 134 against HIV and other STIs (62.2, n = 37), (3) pain during and
Single 114 85.1 after surgery (57.1%, n = 42), (4) post-surgery abstinence from
Married 12 8.9 sex for 6 weeks (62.5%, n = 40), and (5) long healing time after
Cohabiting 8 6.0 MC (64.1, n = 39) (Table 2a and Table 2b).
Study site (n = 136)
ZESCO Training Centre 22 16.3
Northern Technical College 38 28.1 Having the knowledge that MC reduces the risk of female to
Biomedical Science College 25 18.5 male HIV transmission (aOR = 3.65; 95% CI: 3.12–11.67) and
Zambia ICT College 17 12.6 the belief that the medical procedure is safe (aOR = 5.13; 95%
Copperbelt University 33 24.4 CI: 2.09–14.82) were two statistically significant factors that
Which religious denomination do you belong to? (n = 136) were associated with being circumcised after controlling for
Christian 132 97.0 all other factors (Table 3). The perceptions that MC promotes
Muslim 1 0.7 promiscuous behaviour (aOR = 0.20; 95% CI: 0.07–0.61) and
None 2 1.5
Are you circumcised? (n = 131) that sexual sensitivity is the same for both circumcised and
Yes 82 62.6 uncircumcised men (aOR = 0.13; 95% CI: 0.02–0.80) were both
No 44 33.6 associated with being uncircumcised after controlling for all
No response 5 3.8 other factors.
Which circumcision type did you undergo? (n = 82)
Medical 78 96.3 Discussion
Traditional 3 3.7
Are you considering to get circumcised in future? (n = 44) Of the total 136 students who consented to participate in the
Yes 38 74.5 study, 63.0% were circumcised, and of those, 96.0% were
No 8 15.7 medically circumcised. Half of all students were aged 21–24
Don’t know 5 9.8
Should VMMC be promoted in non-circumcising communities? (n = 136) years. Nearly all the students (97.7%) were aware about
Yes 123 90.4 medical MC and the majority (96.8%) knew that MC services
No 3 2.2 in government health facilities were free. Those who
Don’t know 8 5.9 perceived the circumcision procedure to be ‘safe’ and knew
Have you ever seen or heard messages on VMMC? that it reduced female to male HIV transmission risk were
Yes 130 97.7 more likely to be circumcised. The perceptions that MC
No 3 2.3 promotes ‘promiscuous behaviour’ and that sexual sensitivity
Do you know of a place where VMMC procedures are done?
Yes 125 91.9 is the ‘same’ regardless of circumcision status were associated
No 4 3.0 with not being circumcised.
Missing 7 5.1
Are male circumcision services provided for free in public hospitals or clinics? (n = 136) One encouraging finding of this study was that knowledge
Yes 122 39.7 about VMMC was higher compared to studies conducted
No 4 2.9 in Botswana, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. 10,12,14 However, the
Don’t know 10 7.3
Where are VMMC procedures done? (multiple responses) observed differences in levels of VMMC acceptability in other
15
Government hospital 110 88.0 studies could be explained by the diverse cultural settings. In
Government clinic 79 63.2 addition, participants from higher learning institutions are
Private hospital 34 27.6 more likely to be exposed to information on VMMC. Our study
Private hospital 27 21.6 further confirms the assertion from previous reports that
Other (NGOs, mobile services) 3 2.4 males with more knowledge about benefits and risks of VMMC
Describe how easy or difficult is it to get VMMC site(s) services are more likely to accept circumcision compared
Easily accessed 91 70.0 to those with less knowledge. 13,16,17 Therefore, targeting
Accessed with difficulty 25 18.4
Don’t know 5 3.7 information, education and communication (IEC) materials
Missing 11 8.1 about VMMC services to college or university students would
How often are VMMC services available? further encourage adolescents and young men to take up
Daily (7 days a week) 41 30.1 MC. Additionally, we found that the college population was
At least twice in a week 18 13.2 generally young, single or in uncommitted relationships. This
Weekdays (Monday to Friday) 35 25.7 could be explained by the fact that at the time of interviews, we
Don’t know 27 19.9 did not find older age groups doing full-time block lectures.
Missing 11 8.1
Most students aged 30 years and older attend school part-time
NGO, non-governmental organisation; VMMC, voluntary medical male circumcision; ZESCO,
Zambia Electricity Supply Company. because they are also engaged in full-time employment.
http://www.sajhivmed.org.za 137 Open Access