Objectives: Identify

knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to the use of condom in preventing HIV / AIDS possessed by people over 50 years in Havana and identify barriers in condom use and acquisition in this population.

Materials and Method:

we carried out descriptive cross-sectional study from January 2018 to June 2019 in Havana, in five of the municipalities most affected by the epidemic (Centro Habana, Marianao; San Miguel del Padrón, Playa, Cerro). We surveyed 536 people over 50 years of age from each medical office through a self-administered questionnaire.

Results:

In the people interviewed, the female sex predominated with 61%. They were older than 60 years of age with 38.2%, 50.2% have an average education, 47.4% are workers, 40% are married and 70.1% are heterosexual. We found sufficient knowledge about the route of transmission and prevention of HIV. They do not consistently use condoms in long-term or casual relationships. They have attitudes that favor a more participatory role for women to protect themselves during sex. Social, generational and structural barriers were identified such as the lack of condoms in Non-Traditional Points of Sale and the instability and limited variety of condom brands in pharmacies.

Conclusions:

People over 50 years interviewed in Havana have sufficient knowledge about transmission and prevention of HIV. They rarely use condoms either in stable or occasional relationships, because they perceive little risk of infection at their age, which can be a sociocultural and generational barrier to condom use. Concentrate specific social marketing actions for condom use for this population, could be the solution to obtain better results in the prevention of HIV / AIDS.