The Female Condom: A Viability Study Using a Spanish Sample.

The Female Condom: A Viability Study Using a Spanish Sample, Maria Lameiras Fernandez, Ana Nunez Mangana, Carmen Sotelo Gonzalez, Marika L. Foltz, Yolanda Rodriguez Castro, and Maria Calado, University of Vigo, Spain

We evaluated the viability of female condom use in couples between the ages of 20 and 30. Women were given an informational chat about the female condom, in which they completed two questionnaires about their attitudes toward and knowledge about this dual pregnancy/STI prevention method. Those who agreed to participate in the study along with their partners (who then also completed the questionnaires) were given five female condoms and asked to use them over a two-month period. After this period of time, both members of the couple were administered a second questionnaire asking their opinions about the product. The sample included 25 couples (50 subjects) with a mean age of 25.80 years for the women and 26.47 years for the men. When administered the initial questionnaire, 73% of the female subjects and 73% of the male subjects had heard about the female condom only a little, 61% of the women and 73% of the men had never seen one, and 96% of the women and 73% of the men had never used one. Before using the product, 98% of the female participants and 93% of the male ones thought it was a good method, and 91% of the women and 100% of the men involved in the study said they would be willing to use it. In the initial questionnaire, reasons for using the female condom were listed as follows: to avoid unwanted pregnancies (women = 40%; men = 27%); to protect against STDs (women = 7%; men = 13%); and 47% of the women said they would use it if their male partners did not want to use the male condom or other available birth control methods. Based on the data from the follow-up questionnaire, rates of use were the following: 33% of the couples involved used one condom of the five they were administered; 50% used three; 17% used all five. None of the couples used more than the ones they were given. Their willingness to continue using this method varied greatly; whereas 40% of the female subjects said they would be willing to use the female condom always or almost always and another 40% said never, 75% of the male respondents claimed they would use a female condom sometimes while 25% said never. It is necessary to carry out promotional campaigns for the female condom in order to increase the public's knowledge about this method and to favor its use, as it is still a little-known product which is used by a small percentage of the population.