title: Acceptability of male circumcision among mothers with male children in Mysore, India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  There is currently little information on the acceptability of male circumcision in India. This study investigated the acceptability of male circumcision among Indian mothers with male children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was conducted among a convenience sample of 795 women attending a reproductive health clinic in Mysore, India, between January and April 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1012 invited eligible participants, 795 women agreed to participate (response rate = 78.5%). The majority of women were Hindus (78%), 18% were Muslims, and 4% were Christians. About 26% of respondents had no schooling, 29% had 7 years of schooling, 42% had 8-12 years, and 3% had more than 12 years. After women were informed about the risks and benefits of male circumcision, a majority of women with uncircumcised children (n = 564, 81%) said they would definitely circumcise their children if the procedure were offered in a safe hospital setting, free of charge, and a smaller number (n = 50, 7%) said they would probably consider the procedure. Only seven women (1%) said that they would definitely/probably not consider male circumcision, and 63 (9%) were unsure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since male circumcision has been found to decrease risk of HIV infection among men, it is important to determine its acceptability as a potential HIV prevention strategy in India. This study found male circumcision to be highly acceptable among a broad range of mothers with male children in Mysore, India. Further studies of acceptability among fathers and other populations are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-7350, USA. mpurnima@berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Purnima
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Madhivanan
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krupp
authors.forename: Varalakshmi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chandrasekaran
authors.forename: Samuel C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Karat
authors.forename: Arthur L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Reingold
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Klausner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002944:Circumcision, Male / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D012068:Religion and Medicine