Sexual Behaviour among Long Distance Truck Drivers

Abstract

Long distance truck drivers plying on national highways passing through Pune-Ahmednagar State Highway No. 27 who halted at road side group of Dhabas (road side hotels) at Shirur in Pune district Maharashtra (India) were enrolled in a cross-sectional study conducted for 5 days in March 2004 between 1800 hrs -- 2300 hrs. A total of 338 truck drivers could be approached over a period of 5 days. Out of these 315 consented for the study. The adequacy of sample size was established using Stat Cal menu of WHO-CDC Statistical software Epi Info. The study was conducted at Rural Health Training Centre Shirur District Pune Maharashtra. All interviewers were properly trained and briefed for administering the questionnaire. A group of dhabas was identified on the Pune -- Ahmednagar State Highway number 27. All the truck drivers who stopped at the dhabas were invited to participate and those who consented for the interview were taken to a separate enclosure in order to maintain privacy and confidentiality. On the first day a pilot study of 32 truck drivers was carried out with the help of the questionnaire adopted from UNAIDS. It included questions on knowledge and behaviour on HIV STI and condom usage. The questionnaire was administered using personal face-to-face interview techniques. The questionnaire was suitably modified after the pilot study. The data of this pilot study has not been included in the final analysis. (excerpt)