title: Assessment of non-marital sexual behaviours of men in Bangladesh: a methodological experiment using a modified confidential ballot-box method.
abstract: This study assessed the effectiveness of a modified ballot-box method (MBBM) in eliciting non-marital sexual behaviours compared with face-to-face interview (FTFI). A cross-sectional survey collected data from men aged 18-49 years in Bangladesh using a multistage cluster sampling method. In total, 3499 and 3623 respondents were interviewed by MBBM and FTFI, respectively. In the MBBM, pre-recorded questions were administered using a portable audio-cassette player with two pairs of headphones used concurrently by the respondent and the interviewer. Overall, 18% of the respondents had non-marital sexual exposure in the past year. The MBBM elicited higher responses of non-marital sex (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.1, 1.5) compared with FTFI. The interview methods did not, however, revealed significant differences in response to condom-use rates and the number of non-marital sexual partners. The MBBM is more effective than the FTFI method in eliciting higher responses rates of non-marital sexual contacts and may be recommended for reliable estimates of sexual behaviours.
authors.affiliation: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), Mohakhali, Bangladesh. melahi@icddrb.org
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Anwar
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saidel
authors.forename: P S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Mallick
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Streatfield
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001459:Bangladesh; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005114:Extramarital Relations; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult