One of my favorite teaching activities at the university was to ask students to anonymously write down the last time they had unprotected sex. I did this a few weeks before I started the sexually transmitted disease unit. It was far enough ahead they would forget I asked. Then, sure enough when that section came around they would swear up and down they “always use condoms”. I of course knew better, because they had already shared. Then at the end of a highly graphic, stomach turning STD presentation I’d pull out those cards and read them! They went something like this:
- She is my girlfriend I don’t need condoms
- Last night because I didn’t have any
- She is on the pill we don’t need it
- He promised he wouldn’t cum inside me
- We got caught up in the moment
- I’ve only not used a condom once
It was rare that anyone would actually say, “I always use a condom.” People don’t, and of the people that do it’s rare they use condoms consistently and correctly! There are lots of statistics about condom effectiveness but not as many that study the consistent and correct use, because that my friends is what makes condoms effective! Research shows that 30% of people put condoms on incorrectly. A recent study in Canada showed that 94% of males make at least 1 error while putting on the condom before they have sex! One study by the Kinsey institute of college males showed that 30% of men put the condom on upside down and had to flip it and 1/3 reported breakage or slippage during sex. I don’t know about you, but that’s a little risky for my liking!
In the same college study, 60% of the men didn’t discuss condom use and 42% wanted to use condoms but didn’t have any handy. Even more scary, was that 43% of men put the condom on after sex! According to a May 2011 article from the Guttmacher Institute, unintended pregnancy costs U.S. taxpayers roughly $11 billion each year. “The study found that two-thirds of births resulting from unintended pregnancies—more than one million births—are publicly funded, and the proportion tops 80% in a couple of states.” (http://www.guttmacher.org/media/nr/2011/05/19/index.html). These are costly mistakes. Add this to the fact that there are 19 million new STD’s a year and learning to use condoms consistently and correctly becomes a lot more desirable!
So what are the most common mistakes? Researchers at the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention at Indiana University and investigators at The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction have done several studies of condom users and the prevalence of condom-use errors, which they discovered are very common. One study of single, undergraduate male and female college students showed the following mistakes:
| (Percent Reporting the Error or Problem During Sex in the Past 3 Months.) Occurred At Least Once | ||
| Error/Problem | Male Appliers | Female Appliers |
| Put condom on after starting sex | 43% | 51% |
| Did not hold tip to leave space at end of condom | 40 | 46 |
| Put condom on the wrong side up | 30 | 30 |
| Used condom without lubricant | 19 | 26 |
| Took condom off before sex was over | 15 | 15 |
| Condom broke | 29 | 19 |
| Condom slipped off during sex | 13 | 19 |
| Lost erection before condom was put on | 22 | 14 |
| Lost erection after condom was on and sex had begun | 20 | 20 |
| Correct Use of the Male Condom, (2007) an information brochure published by the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality (SSSS) | ||
For more information on this topic and to read a recent interview with Dr.SexTalk and College Times visit: Visit College Times – 8/23/2011
