Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision Services and Related Psychosocial Factors Among Men in Kenya

Abstract

Background and Objective: Voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) has been popularized over the years as a public health intervention geared toward reducing HIV infection. Turkana County, inhabited mainly by traditionally uncircumcised communities with a high prevalence of HIV at 4%, has however only achieved between 5% and 10%, which is below the national average of VMMC strategic target. This study, therefore, sought to determine the association between the uptake of VMMC and associated factors amongst adult men. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Loima, Turkana Central and Turkana North sub-counties, with a sample size of 434 adult men. Data was collected using both quantitative and qualitative tools. Statistical package for the Social Science version 22 was used to analyze quantitative data, whereas qualitative data was analyzed thematically. Results: Of the 374 male participants in the study, 79.9% had undergone circumcision, 77.0% were aged 18– 35 years, 94.1% were Christians, 44.7% were unemployed and 54.8% were married. The overall mean scores of responses for psychosocial and socioeconomic factors were 3.602 (positive) and 2.894 (negative), respectively. The study found that only psychological factors were significant predictors of embracing VMMC. Conclusion and Implications for Translation: Psychosocial and socioeconomic factors have a significant influence on the uptake of VMMC among male participants in Turkana County. Therefore, there is a need to address these factors when designing interventions to improve VMMC uptake in the county.