Heather R. Royer

Genital Herpes Beliefs: Implications for Sexual Health

STUDY OBJECTIVE Genital herpes (HSV) is exceedingly common in the United States and women are disproportionally affected. This study aims to describe young womens beliefs about HSV and examine the correlates of those beliefs. DESIGN A 40-item Herpes Representation measure (HSV-RoSTD) and a demographic questionnaire were administered to a convenience sample of young women. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, t-tests and Pearsons correlations. SETTING Four womens health clinics and one large state university. PARTICIPANTS 302 women aged 18-24 years. INTERVENTIONS None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Four dimensions of HSV representations (cause, identity, future perspective, and psychosocial consequences), age and STD testing history. RESULTS Nearly all (98%) believed that HSV would result in genital sores and 68% believed they could tell if their sexual partner had HSV. Most (89%) understood the longevity of HSV; however, 30% believed that they could take a pill to get rid of the infection, and 15% indicated that it was likely they would die from HSV. Negative beliefs about the psychosocial impact of HSV were common as 95% indicated they would be depressed and 90% indicated concern about sex and partner notification. Those who were younger and those who had never been tested for STDs believed a genital herpes infection is highly symptomatic. Finally, negative beliefs about the psychosocial consequences of HSV were associated with beliefs about HSV being symptomatic, having a negative impact on future health, and being associated with sexual risk behaviors. CONCLUSIONS Young women have misconceptions about HSV, particularly regarding the symptomatology and the role of HSV medication. Noteworthy concerns about the negative psychosocial consequences of an HSV diagnosis were also raised, all of which have implications for young womens sexual health.

Young women's beliefs about the terms sexually transmitted disease and sexually transmitted infection.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether young women differentiate between the terms sexually transmitted disease and sexually transmitted infection and if they do whether their reasons are consistent with those of health care providers. DESIGN Secondary analysis of cross-sectional, survey data. SETTING Four womens health clinics and one university classroom. PATIENT/PARTICIPANTS Three hundred and two women aged 18 to 24. METHODS The women completed a survey that measured beliefs about seven sexually transmitted diseases, a demographic and sexually transmitted disease health information questionnaire, and a single item assessing whether the terms sexually transmitted disease and sexually transmitted infection were interchangeable. RESULTS Fifty-seven percent (n=155) responded that sexually transmitted disease and sexually transmitted infection do not mean the same thing, 28% (n=76) responded that sexually transmitted disease and sexually transmitted infection mean the same thing, and 15% (n=42) responded they do not know. Beliefs about sexually transmitted disease stigma and symptoms were not related to sexually transmitted disease terminology; beliefs about curability were related but not in the hypothesized direction. CONCLUSIONS A majority of the young women do differentiate between the terms sexually transmitted disease and sexually transmitted infection; however, the rationale for doing so is not consistent with the rationale used by health care providers. Professionals should clarify their use of the terms sexually transmitted disease and sexually transmitted infection when talking with patients as a means to improve health communication and subsequently improve sexually transmitted disease health care.

Young Women's Beliefs Regarding Human Papillomavirus

OBJECTIVE To describe young womens perceptions of human papillomavirus (HPV) using the Common Sense Model and examine whether perceptions differ based on history of HPV diagnosis or sexually transmitted disease (STD) testing. DESIGN Cross-sectional, survey data. SETTING Four womens health clinics and one university classroom. PARTICIPANTS Three hundred and two women ages 18-24. METHODS Young womens beliefs regarding HPV were measured using the HPV Representations of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (RoSTD) survey. RESULTS Most survey respondents believed HPV diagnosis was likely to result in cancer and death. Negative beliefs about the psychosocial consequences of HPV diagnosis were common. Compared to those who had not been diagnosed with HPV (or had never received STD testing), young women with a history of HPV diagnosis or STD testing had less serious and more accurate beliefs about HPV. CONCLUSION Young women tend to have misconceptions about HPV in addition to noteworthy concerns about the psychosocial consequences of HPV diagnosis. Clinical attention to young womens beliefs about HPV may provide direction for improving the delivery of patient-centered education and counseling about this exceedingly common illness.

Formative research for the development of an interactive web-based sexually transmitted disease management intervention for young women.

Sexually transmitted diseases are common among young women and effective self-management is foundational to improving health outcomes and preventing negative sequelae. Advances in technology create the opportunity for innovative delivery methods of self-management interventions. However, it is essential to conduct formative research with the target population to identify both the needs and the preferences for the content and delivery method of a sexually transmitted disease self-management intervention prior to intervention development. Eight focus groups were conducted with 35 young women between 18 and 24 years of age. We found that young women strongly support the use of a Web-based intervention to provide sexually transmitted disease self-management guidance. Women were interested in receiving comprehensive management information from the perspective of both clinicians and other women who have experienced a sexually transmitted disease. There was a clear interest in incorporating new media into the Web-based intervention to allow for communication with providers as well as to create opportunities for social networking between women. This formative research provides critical information about the content and delivery method of a self-management intervention and gives direction for intervention development that is inclusive of varying types of new media to allow for connectivity among users, their peers, and clinicians.

Young women's Representations of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (RoSTD): a psychometric study.

Measurement of beliefs about sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is important to understanding sexual health behaviors. The purpose of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Representations of STDs (RoSTD) Scale. The RoSTD was developed to measure young womens representations of STDs, and it is intended to be used to measure beliefs about any of the seven most common STDs. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated a four-factor structure for the 40-item RoSTD: Future Perspective, Cause, Psychosocial Consequence, and Identity. Internal consistency for the subscales (measured for each of seven different STDs) ranged from .67 to .93 and 2-week test-retest correlations ranged from .69 to .90. The RoSTD shows evidence of reliability and validity in young women.

Building capacity for the conduct of nursing research at a Veterans Administration hospital.

Evidence is the bedrock of nursing practice, and nursing research is the key source for this evidence. In this article, we draw distinctions between the use and the conduct of nursing research and provide a perspective for how the conduct of nursing research in a Veterans Administration hospital can build an organization’s capacity for nursing research.