Behavioural Surveillance Survey among troops in a large military station

A cross sectional survey was carried out among the troops located in a large cantonment using the UNAIDS standard survey questionnaire (UN Best Practice Collection) for Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BSS). A total of 556 randomly selected recruits and soldiers were administered the questionnaire. The median age at first sexual encounter was 25 years for service personnel and 18 years for recruits. 5.5% of the recruits and 1.7% of regular soldiers reported having regular sexual partners other than spouse. Among those who had casual sex 46.3% reported using condoms. 52.3% were aware about the two main preventive indicators. Some incorrect beliefs regarding transmission of HIV/AIDS were also present among some of the respondents. The findings have been discussed in relation to previous studies.