Measuring condom use among sex workers in the Dominican Republic.
The purpose of this paper is to assess the internal consistency of self-reported condom use among sex workers in Puerto Plata and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We examined the responses to questions about condom use among 4 cross-sectional samples of sex workers. We compared measures based on: (1) questions using always-to-never scales; (2) questions about use with the past 5 clients; and (3) questions about use in the past week obtained from a retrospective coital log. In each sample, more women reported 'always' using condoms with clients than with each of the past 5 clients. In 3 of the 4 samples, only about half of the women who reported 'always' using condoms used condoms with the most recent 5 clients and with all clients in the past week. Internal consistency was significantly higher when the comparison was limited to use with the most recent 5 clients and use in the past week. Self-reported measures of condom use can be difficult to interpret. Assessing the internal consistency of several measures of use provides insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each measure.
Weir
S S
SS
Family Health International, Durham, NC, USA.
Fox
L J
LJ
DeMoya
A
A
Gomez
B
B
Guerrero
E
E
Hassig
S E
SE
D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004293:Dominican Republic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011477:Sex Work