Computer-Based HIV/STD Prevention For High-Risk Women

描述（由申请人提供）：妇女是美国感染艾滋病毒增长最快的人口之一，在预防疾病传播方面面临着独特的挑战。与男子不同，异性性传播占妇女所有新艾滋病毒病例的75%以上。主要的男性伴侣是主要的感染源。此外，当感染另一种性病时，感染艾滋病毒的风险增加了两到五倍。事实上，三分之二的新性病感染发生在妇女身上。最后，预防艾滋病毒传播的主要方法是正确和一致地使用男性乳胶或聚氨酯避孕套。对妇女来说，这是一个重大挑战，因为男性伴侣对避孕套的抵制是异性恋关系中的一个重要障碍。拟议的第二阶段项目将涉及第一阶段开发的Safe Sistah原型项目的扩展和完成。这将包括加强现有的多媒体资产，提供更多的机会，以个人定制的程序，并提供它在西班牙语和英语。整个计划将以三个核心目标为指导。首先，向用户传授针对不同性别的预防技能。第二，强调预防和治疗艾滋病毒以外的性病的重要性。最后，增强赋权感和性别认同感。安全Sistah计划的有效性将在严格的实地测试中进行检查。现场测试将涉及随机分配300名妇女接受安全Sistah计划或常规治疗，评估参与者之前，3个月和6个月后的计划经验。主要的结果测量将是自我报告的避孕套的持续使用，因为这已被证明是有效的减少性传播艾滋病毒。此外，还将评估替代风险降低策略的使用、风险降低行为的介体以及STD症状的存在。如果基于网络的计划的重大影响得到证明，它将被修改，并准备向性病诊所营销。该项目旨在为在公共资助的性病诊所就诊的男男性行为妇女制定一个基于网络的艾滋病毒/性病预防方案。对诊所来说，这将使它们能够向客户提供经经验验证的艾滋病毒/性传播疾病预防干预措施，而不会对已经负担过重的工作人员提出额外要求。对妇女来说，该方案所包含的技能将帮助她们减少危险行为，并最终防止艾滋病毒/性传播疾病的传播。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Women are one of the fastest growing populations being infected with HIV in the United States and face unique challenges when it comes to preventing the spread of the disease. Unlike men, heterosexual transmission accounts for over 75% of all new HIV cases in women. Primary male partners are the chief source of infection. Moreover, the risk of becoming infected with HIV is increased two to five times when infected with another STD. Indeed, two-thirds of new STD infections occur in women. Finally, the primary method to prevent the spread of HIV is the correct and consistent use of the male latex or polyurethane condom. For women this presents a significant challenge because male partner resistance to condoms is an important barrier in heterosexual relationships. The proposed Phase II project will involve expansion and completion of the Safe Sistah prototype program developed during Phase I. This will include enhancing the existing multimedia assets, providing more opportunities to personally tailor the program, and offering it in both Spanish and English. The full program will be guided by three core goals. First, teach users gender-specific prevention skills. Second, emphasize the importance of preventing and treating STDs besides HIV. Finally, enhance feelings of empowerment and gender identity. The effectiveness of the Safe Sistah program will be examined in a rigorous field test. The field test will involve randomly assigning 300 women to receive either the Safe Sistah program or to a treatment as usual condition, assessing participants before, 3-months, and 6-months after their program experience. The primary outcome measure will be self-reported consistent condom use as this has been shown to be effective in reducing sexually transmitted HIV. In addition, the use of alternative risk reducing strategies, mediators of risk reducing behavior, and the presence of STD symptoms will also be assessed. If significant impact of the web-based program is demonstrated, it will be revised and prepared for marketing to STD clinics. This project aims to develop a web-based HIV/STD prevention program for women who have sex with men attending publicly-funded STD clinics. For clinics, this will allow them to provide an empirically validated HIV/STD prevention intervention to their clients without creating additional demands on their already overburdened staff. For women, the skills contained in this program will help them reduce risk behaviors and, ultimately, prevent the spread of HIV/STDs.