Correctly used condoms do reduce STD risk

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Adolescent girls who always use condoms correctly are indeed protected from common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), according to a new report. However, the findings also show that only 16 percent of the young women used condoms properly.

The researchers found that teen girls who consistently used condoms correctly were 60 percent less likely to become infected with chlamydia, and 90 percent less likely to have gonorrhea, both leading causes of infertility and chronic pelvic pain.

The most common mistake teenagers made when using condoms was to start sex without a condom, the authors report in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

“Although messages directed at adolescents should encourage delaying initiation of sexual activity, many are already sexually active, and STDs are particularly common among this group,” write the researchers, led by Dr. Gabriela Paz-Bailey of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Thus, aggressive condom promotion must remain a key to reducing STDs and HIV."

In the report, the researchers note that nearly 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections occur every year in the U.S. alone. Half of the people who become infected are between 15 and 24 years old.

During the study, 509 teenaged girls attending an urban adolescent health clinic were tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea, and reported on their use of condoms.

Twenty-one percent of the girls had chlamydia, and another 7 percent had gonorrhea. Four percent had both infections, Paz-Baily and colleagues found.

More than 70 percent of teen respondents who said they had used a condom at least once in the last 3 months said they had experienced condom errors, such as starting sex without a condom, taking it off before finishing sex, breaking a condom, or having it slip off. Only 35 percent of girls said they consistently used condoms.

More than 40 percent of teens who said they used condoms said they start sex without a condom, and teens who admitted to this condom error were more likely to have chlamydia.

“Both correctness and consistency of use is important” for condom effectiveness, the team concludes.

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, June 2005.

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