Impact of migration origin on individual protection strategies against sexual transmission of HIV in Paris metropolitan area, SIRS cohort study, France

BACKGROUND: The impact of migration and country or region of origin on sexual behaviours and prevention of the sexual transmission of HIV has been scarcely studied in France. The objective of this study was to evaluate if and how individual attitudes of prevention towards HIV infection are different according to country or region of origins in Paris area, France. METHODS: 3006 individuals were interviewed in the Paris metropolitan area in 2010. Outcome variables were (i) the intention of the individual to protect oneself against HIV, and (ii) the adoption of a condom-based approach for protection against HIV. To explore factors associated with these outcomes, we constructed multivariate logistic regression models, first taking into account only demographic variables –including country of origin-, then successively adding socioeconomic variables and variables related to sexual behaviour and HIV perception and prevention behaviour. RESULTS: French and foreign people who have origins in Sub-Saharan Africa declared more intentions to protect themselves than French people with French parents (in foreign men, aOR = 3.43 [1.66–7.13]; in foreign women, aOR = 2.94 [1.65–5.23]), but did not declare more recourse to a condom-based approach for protection against HIV (in foreign men, aOR = 1.38 [0.38–4.93]; in foreign women, aOR = 0.93 [0.40–2.18]). Conversely, foreign women and French women from foreign origin, especially from Maghreb (Northern Africa), reported less intention of protection than French women with French parents. CONCLUSIONS: These results underline the importance of taking culture and origins of target populations into consideration when designing information, education and communication about HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. These results also draw attention to fractions of the general population that could escape from prevention messages. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2051-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.