Simultaneous use of multiple condoms among male Cambodian military personnel visiting female sex workers.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the prevalence of simultaneous use of multiple condoms (SUMC) and identify the characteristics of the multiple condoms users.

STUDY

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey among military men from a purposively selected Cambodian military region. Military men were interviewed face to face.

RESULTS

From the 1638 respondents, 40% never had sex with female sex workers (FSWs), 55% had used condom(s), and 5% had unprotected sex at their last encounter with a FSW. Among those reporting sex with FSWs, 21% had used multiple condoms simultaneously at their last sex with a FSW.

CONCLUSION

Compared with single condom users, multiple condom users were younger, had lower rank, had first sex more recently, had lower knowledge of HIV transmission, had received less HIV peer-education sessions, were more likely to have visited multiple FSWs, and were more likely to have sought their HIV serostatus. As it is unknown if SUMC increases or decreases condom effectiveness, more research is needed to investigate the effect of SUMC on condom failure rates.