Master of Public Health Research Project: Unmarried Women in Ghana, Africa: Predictors of Condom Use- An Analysis of the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey/Questionnaire Database, Emilie Hill, May 2010.

This research project evaluates data from Ghana's 2008 Demographic and Health Survey to predict condom use at last sexual encounter among unmarried women and concludes in part that education, not threat of violence, is the most significant indicator of condom usage. The author assessed surveys completed by 4,916 women, 1,966 of whom were not married, that posed questions related to age, level of education, literacy, knowledge of HIV, media exposure, and "attitude" toward domestic violence. Using these categories of analysis, the author concludes that each of these factors were predictors of condom use by partners of unmarried women, with age, literacy and amount of television watched being the most significant predictors. While this project provides data that can be useful to frame a discussion about preventing STIs, including HIV, and unplanned pregnancies in Ghana, the analysis does not offer a comprehensive picture of the layered dynamics of negotiating condom use in heterosexual partnerships.