Researchers at Miriam Hospital and Brown University in Providence, R.I., found women who have used protective methods in the past, and those with casual sexual partners, were more willing to use a microbicide compared with their peers.

"The results may seem to be an obvious finding but they are important because science has very little direct evidence of what characteristics and situations in women's lives would make them more likely to want to use a microbicide to prevent HIV infection," said psychologist Kathleen Morrow, the study's lead author and an assistant professor at Brown.

Morrow and her team designed the "Willingness to Use Microbicides" scale. The scale consists of a series of questions about particular situations, such as, "Would you have wanted to use a microbicide the last time you had sex with your partner?" The scale also includes product-related questions, such as, "If a microbicide costs about as much as a male condom, would you have used it?"

The research was detailed in the November issue of the journal Healthy Psychology.