Education level as a predictor of condom use in jail-incarcerated women, with fundamental cause analysis.
Amanda M Emerson, Hsiang-Feng Carroll, Megha Ramaswamy
PMID 29806134WHAT IT FOUND
Among 102 jail-incarcerated women, 38% used a condom at last sex.
Women with at least a high school education or GED and women with no STI diagnosis were more likely to report use. The study did not test an intervention.
Key findings
01Thirty-eight percent of women who took the survey reported using a condom the last time they had sex.
02After removing the always used condoms variable, women who completed high school or GED had 2.78 times higher odds of reporting last-sex condom use than women with less education.
03Women who had never been diagnosed with an STI had 2.597 times higher odds of reporting last-sex condom use than women who had been diagnosed.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional and self-reported, so it can show associations but cannot show that education or STI history caused condom use. It was done in a moderate-sized urban jail with 102 women, and the sample was 75.5% Black, 78.4% single, and 61.8% had at least one child under 18, so it may not apply to other settings or groups. Condom use was measured only as use during the last sexual encounter, which the authors used as a proxy for consistent use. Women who were certain their stay would be longer than one week were excluded, so the sample may not represent longer jail stays.
Declared interests
This article was supported by NIH extramural research funding. No author conflicts of interest are stated.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the education and STI findings as proof that schooling or a past STI diagnosis caused condom use. This was a cross-sectional self-report survey of 102 women in a moderate-sized urban jail, and it did not test an intervention.