title: Army women's evaluations of a self-administered intervention to prevent sexually transmitted diseases during travel.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Military personnel experience seven times the sexually transmitted infections of civilians. Military women are especially vulnerable. No self-administered interventions to promote safer sexual behaviors are available for use by military personnel while on duty in austere locations. The purpose of this study was to ascertain Army women's evaluations of a new theory-based, self-administered, and portable intervention designed to promote safer sexual practices during duty abroad.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two focus groups were conducted at a large military installation in the Pacific Northwest. Army women (N=20) ages 18-49 years participated in the groups. Women first examined the intervention and then their reactions to the intervention were elicited with open-ended questions. The qualitative data then were content analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All participants would either recommend or personally use the intervention. Positive features of the intervention included the type of information, a user-friendly and self-explanatory format, and that it was an aid to decision making about safer sex. Concerns included a tendency toward too much information and fears of non-acceptance by peers or sexual partners.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Minor changes have been made based upon these results. The intervention will be reviewed again and proceed to clinical trials with female military personnel and other travelers.
authors.affiliation: College of Nursing, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA. von-sadovszky.1@osu.edu
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: von Sadovszky
authors.forename: Nancy
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ryan-Wenger
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Ashley
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008889:Military Personnel; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014195:Travel; D016387:Women's Health