Behavioural Surveillance Surveys - The Wisdom of Whores

Q706 : This question determines the
amount of time it would take to obtain a
condom close to home or work. The categories
may need to be adjusted for local conditions,
or it may be that the question is not necessary
at all for some geographic areas or target
groups. If the categories are changed, verify
that they are mutually exclusive (i.e., that an
answer can’t fit in more than one category).
Q707 : This question asks about any
unprotected sexual intercourse with non-regular
or commercial partners during the previous 12
months. Although the data could theoretically
be derived from other questions in the
instrument, this question asks directly about
unprotected sex and thus serves as an internal
check on information obtained elsewhere in
the instrument. It also provides data for
indicator 13, which is the percentage of target
group reporting unprotected sex with any
non-regular or commercial sex partners during
the previous 12 months.
Section 8 : STDs
Questions in this section are posed to men
and women. The 5 questions contained in
the section attempt to assess certain aspects
of STD symptom awareness by gender and
self-reported STD incidence. Self-reported
incidence of STDs raises a number of problems
concerning definition and measurement.
Many respondents may not know the correct
medical terms for different STDs, and therefore
all questions are phrased in terms of symptoms,
instead of asking “What STDs do you know?”
or “Have you ever had an STD?” For females,
many infections may be asymptomatic for long
periods and difficult to diagnose. For males,
symptoms are usually more easily recognizable,
and gonorrhea (penile discharge) can be
distinguished from syphilis (sores, ulcerations).
The main objective of STD program interventions
is to improve the point of first encounter
for treatment, to increase the probability that
a person experiencing symptoms will seek
out and receive prompt effective treatment,
as well as to provide prevention advice.
Answers to these questions complement STD
case management studies by providing
a perspective from the person experiencing
the symptoms. Read the questions slowly
and carefully. Be careful not to imply any
judgment of the respondent and his/her
behavior or morals.
Q801 : Respondents are first asked if they
have heard of diseases that can be transmitted
through sexual intercourse. If not, you skip
to questions about symptoms beginning
with 804. If they answer YES, DON’T KNOW,
or they don’t answer, you then ask both males
and females the following two questions
about symptoms.
Q802, Q803 : These two questions are
knowledge questions, asking about symptoms
of STDs in women and in men. You should
not read out the categories, but should probe
by asking “Do you know any others?” because
more than one answer is possible. For each
symptom mentioned, you circle 1 (YES).
If the respondent describes a symptom not
listed, write the symptom on the line next
to the OTHER category and circle 1. When
the respondent can no longer think of other
symptoms, then you must circle 2 (NO)
for each category not mentioned by the
respondent. Note that the categories are not
completely identical for the two genders.
B EHAV I OR A L S U R V EI L L A NC E SURV EY S APPEN DI X 2
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