| Abstrakt: |
The purpose of this investigation was to assess college and university condom distribution programs nationwide using constructs of the Transtheoretical Model, the Health Belief Model, and the Diffusion of Innovations Theory. Using a cross-sectional design, the authors mailed and emailed a questionnaire to a geographically diverse group of 1,101 colleges and universities. Health center directors or other appropriate employees representing 438 (39.8% response rate) schools agreed to participate. The majority of schools that offer condoms to their student populations were in the maintenance stage and have hosted a program for more than 10 years. Both the institutional benefits and barriers constructs were statistically significant predictors of condom programs, OR = 1.740, 95% CI = 1.519-1.994, p < .001, and OR = .598, 95% CI = .494 - .724, p < .001, respectively. The most common institutional benefit associated with programs included reduction of sexually transmitted infections (96.6%) and encouragement of healthy student behaviors (94.2%). Among institutions that do not offer condoms to students the most prevalent institutional barriers included religious affiliation-based objections (78.3%) and institutional ideology (51.7%). Expense of condoms (30.7%) and lack of available funds (29.1%) were the most common barriers among schools that host a program. Nurses (77.0%), student peer educators (73.8%), and health center directors (72.8%) were the most commonly reported university employees involved with condom issues on campus. The mean number of condoms distributed to students/year was significantly correlated to the total student population, r(342) = .451, p < .001, the number of health center employees, r(342) = .525, p < .001, and institutional complexity, r(342) = .630, p < .001. The use of a multi-level theoretical assessment revealed unique insights into distribution efforts, benefits and barriers to programming, and prevalence of employees who participate in programs or serve as advocates for condom availability. Findings provide a critical step towards the development of benchmarks for colleges and universities nationally and identify the need for additional focus upon the influence of campus demographics, employee infrastructure, and policies upon condom availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
