WEDNESDAY, Sept. 4, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Many men on college campuses fail Condom Use 101, and their poor performance could lead to sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy or both, a new study has found.
The study, reported in the September issue of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, found that roughly four in 10 college students wanted to use a condom during sex, but didn't have them around when the time arose. Of the ones that did have the prophylactics available, many routinely made "technical" errors wearing the devices that increased their risk of tearing or slippage during sex.
Dr. Richard A. Crosby, of Emory University in Atlanta, and his colleagues in Indiana surveyed 158 male Indiana University students about their experience with condoms over the preceding three months. All of the men said they'd worn a condom at least once during sex in that period, but their consistency was spotty.
Six in 10 said they didn't talk about condoms with their partners before starting to have sex, and 42 percent said they wanted to use the devices but didn't have any on hand.
Forty-three percent said they wore condoms during sex but didn't don them until after intercourse commenced -- a no-no for both pregnancy and disease prevention. Meanwhile, 15 percent made the equally risky move of taking them off before finishing.
Almost a third of men reporting losing their erections after they put on a condom. Four in 10 didn't allow ample space at the tip of the condoms, leaving them prone to rupture or spillage, and 30 percent initially put them on upside down, potentially exposing their partner to pathogens or semen released before ejaculation when they flipped the latex jacket over.
Nearly one in three of the men said they'd had a condom tear or slip off during sex, and the likelihood of either of these problems was higher among those who reported technical troubles, the researchers say. "If we count these errors up and take an average, errors are associated with breakage and slippage," Crosby says.
That's "really good news" for the image of condoms, Crosby adds, since it means that user error, not product failure, may account for most cases of faulty rubbers.
Crosby's group didn't query the men about whether they'd contracted a sexual infection or gotten a partner pregnant during the study, so they don't know the consequences of these blunders. To be sure, he adds, not all of the errors are created equal. "Not putting it on early is obviously going to have a severe impact, while others are far less severe," he says.
Experts says the study gives sex educators and public health workers a clear goal: improving the way men use condoms may be just as important as raising rates of condom use.
Jon Knowles, director of public information for Planned Parenthood Federation of America in New York City, says the new study confirms what his group has long known. "The condom is a really good thing, very effective, but you have to use it correctly," Knowles says. "Boys don't ask for directions."
Knowles said that in addition to improving education for sexually active men, women should also learn proper condom use to protect themselves from disease and pregnancy.
What To Do
For more on condoms and other contraceptive methods, try Planned Parenthood. You can also learn about STD prevention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
