TY - JOUR
T1 - HIV knowledge, sexual practices, condom use and its associated factors among international students in one province of China
T2 - a cross-sectional study
AU - Zhou, Qidi
AU - Wu, Weizi
AU - Yi, Mengyao
AU - Shen, Yan
AU - Goldsamt, Lloyd
AU - Alkhatib, Asem
AU - Jiang, Wenjing
AU - Li, Xianhong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/8/29
Y1 - 2022/8/29
N2 - Objective China has seen an increasing number of international students in recent years, mostly from Africa and Asia. However, little is known about these students' HIV knowledge, sexual practices and potential HIV risk. This study aimed to describe HIV-related risk among international students. Design An online cross-sectional survey. Setting 10 universities situated in one province of China. Participants 617 international students filled out the questionnaire and 607 international students were included in this study. Primary and secondary outcome measures Socio-demographic and programme-related characteristics, HIV-related knowledge, sexual practices and other HIV/sexually transmitted infection-related variables. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine factors associated with inconsistent condom use among international students. Result The results showed that in total, only 51.6% (313/607) of international students had adequate HIV-related knowledge, and 64.9% (394/607) reported not receiving any HIV related education or training while studying in China. Moreover, 32.3% (196/607) reported having penetrative sex including oral, vaginal and anal sex during the period in which they studied in China and among them. The proportions of inconsistent condom use in vaginal and oral intercourse while studying in China were 52.6% (50/95) and 79.5% (35/44), respectively, with casual partners, and 60% (80/129) and 91.2% (52/57) with regular partners, respectively. Female gender, being married and having multiple sexual partners were associated with inconsistent condom use. Conclusion The present study indicated that international students in one province of China have suboptimal HIV-related knowledge, significant unprotected sex, less HIV testing and less safe sex education, which highlights an urgent need to provide HIV education and related health services to international students in China.
AB - Objective China has seen an increasing number of international students in recent years, mostly from Africa and Asia. However, little is known about these students' HIV knowledge, sexual practices and potential HIV risk. This study aimed to describe HIV-related risk among international students. Design An online cross-sectional survey. Setting 10 universities situated in one province of China. Participants 617 international students filled out the questionnaire and 607 international students were included in this study. Primary and secondary outcome measures Socio-demographic and programme-related characteristics, HIV-related knowledge, sexual practices and other HIV/sexually transmitted infection-related variables. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine factors associated with inconsistent condom use among international students. Result The results showed that in total, only 51.6% (313/607) of international students had adequate HIV-related knowledge, and 64.9% (394/607) reported not receiving any HIV related education or training while studying in China. Moreover, 32.3% (196/607) reported having penetrative sex including oral, vaginal and anal sex during the period in which they studied in China and among them. The proportions of inconsistent condom use in vaginal and oral intercourse while studying in China were 52.6% (50/95) and 79.5% (35/44), respectively, with casual partners, and 60% (80/129) and 91.2% (52/57) with regular partners, respectively. Female gender, being married and having multiple sexual partners were associated with inconsistent condom use. Conclusion The present study indicated that international students in one province of China have suboptimal HIV-related knowledge, significant unprotected sex, less HIV testing and less safe sex education, which highlights an urgent need to provide HIV education and related health services to international students in China.
KW - HIV & AIDS
KW - Infection control
KW - Public health
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U2 - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058108
DO - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-058108
M3 - Article
C2 - 36038170
AN - SCOPUS:85136902780
SN - 2044-6055
VL - 12
JO - BMJ open
JF - BMJ open
IS - 8
M1 - 058108
ER -