One Session of Transtheoretical Model-Tailored Condom Use Feedback: A Pilot Study Among at-Risk Women in the Bronx

The authors introduced their research by noting the "urgent need" to enact interventions to curb the spread of STDs, particularly HIV. "Consistent condom use is an effective preventive strategy, yet especially among those at highest risk, condom use remains too low," they wrote.

This study describes changes in condom use and stages of condom use during a two- to three-month time period following a single session with an interactive multimedia computer-delivered Transtheoretical Model (TTM)-tailored expert system, which was originally designed for at-risk adolescents. The intervention gave immediate TTM-tailored feedback to diverse urban women based on their stage of condom use and other TTM variables.

Previous work had found the system acceptable. In the current study, 89 percent of women returned for a second session two to three months later, further demonstrating the system's utility.

"After just one feedback session, 21 percent of women not using condoms at baseline started using condoms consistently at follow-up, with a trend for a relationship to baseline stage of condom use," the authors concluded. "These results support further randomized controlled research on the reach and efficacy of computer-based TTM-tailored and individual condom use interventions."

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