Understanding university students’ experiences of voluntary medical male circumcision: a qualitative inquiry.

Abstract

Voluntary medical male circumcision remains the most crucial feature in the fight against new heterosexual HIV infections. Generally, men engage in sexual intercourse soon after undergoing VMMC. Therefore, research which focus on the factors influencing the men’s decision to undergo VMMC, their prevalent sexual experiences post VMMC, and meanings attached to VMMC after undergoing VMMC is important. The study used a qualitative research design and it is located within an interpretivist paradigm. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with UKZN Howard College students. A total of 10 students were purposively selected and participated in the in-depth interviews. Although ten interviews were pre-planned, data saturation was achieved from the eighth interview. Four participants were master’s students, three were honours students, and the rest were final year undergraduate students. All participants were Christians. The Health Belief Model was used as the conceptual framework and thematic analysis, as described by Braun and Clarke (2006), was used to analyse data. The in-depth individual interviews showed main motivations which resulted from the perceptions that influenced the men’s decision to undergo VMMC. VMMC main motivational factors included reducing chances of HIV infection, preventing STI infection, hygiene, peer pressure, enhancing sex, and abstaining from sex. Participants reported post-VMMC sexual experiences of big and clean penis, improved self-esteem, enhanced sexual functioning due to pleasurable sex, and removed sex pain. The new VMMC meanings post-VMMC procedure also elicited the need for dual protection and understanding of VMMC as painless procedure that means a personal responsibility. The findings from this study elicited that the participants experienced enhanced sexual functioning post-VMMC procedure. More research is needed to focus on the sexual experiences before and post-VMMC procedure in order to appropriately inform VMMC recruitment strategies.