Use-Effectiveness of the Female Versus Male Condom in... : Sexually Transmitted Diseases (original) (raw)

Article

French, P. P. MD, MPH*†; Latka, M. PhD‡; Gollub, E. L. DrPH*; Rogers, C. PA-C*; Hoover, D. R. PhD§; Stein, Z. A. MB, BCh‡

This study was a collaborative endeavor by the *Philadelphia Department of Public Health and †Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; ‡Columbia University School of Public Health, New York, New York; and §Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey

Received August 26, 2002,

revised December 5, 2002, and accepted December 6, 2002.

Reprint requests: Mary Latka, PhD, New York Academy of Medicine, Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, 1216 Fifth Avenue, Room 556, New York, NY 10029. E-mail: [email protected]

The authors thank Jacquie Astemborski and Jennifer Ahern for analytic support; Mervyn Susser for editorial guidance; Sandra Redguard for data management and administrative support; and the PWHSS Study Group: Lisa M. Blum, Abby Chen, Pamela French, Marty Goldberg, Erica Gollub, Cheryl Healton, Lori Johns, Mary Latka, Robert Levenson, Judy O’Donnell, David Owens, Pat Ragone, Carol Rogers, Jude Samans-Dunn, Michael Spence, Zena Stein, Barbara Sturgis, and the staff of Health Center One, Philadelphia Department of Public Health. This report is dedicated to the memory of Lisa M. Blum.

Current affiliations: Dr. French, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (Philadelphia, PA); Dr. Latka, Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies, New York Academy of Medicine (New York, NY); Dr. Gollub, Center for Addiction Studies, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA); and Dr. Hoover, Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ).

This study was supported by funding from the Centers for Disease Control (grant H25/CCH304327-04-06, Division of STD Prevention) and The Female Health Company.

Background

Data are limited on the female condom’s effectiveness against STDs.

Goal

The goal was to compare STD rates between women given small-group education on, and free supplies of, either female or male condoms.

Study Design

Female patients at an STD clinic (n = 1442) were randomly assigned to condom type and followed via medical records for STDs (gonorrhea, chlamydia, early syphilis, or trichomoniasis).

Results

In an intention-to-treat analysis, the odds ratio for a comparison of STD occurrence between the female and male condom groups was 0.75 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56–1.01), and it did not change with adjustment. In a second analysis among women returning for subsequent screening, incidence rates for the first new postintervention STD per 100 woman-months of observation were 6.8 in the female condom group and 8.5 in the male condom group (rate ratio = 0.79 [CI, 0.59–1.06]).

Conclusion

Compared with those provided with male condoms alone, women counseled on, and provided with, female condoms fared no worse and experienced a nonsignificant reduction in STDs.