Contraceptive efficacy and acceptability of the female condom.
- 1 December 1994
- journal article
- Published by American Public Health Association in American Journal of Public Health
- Vol. 84 (12), 1960-1964
- https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.84.12.1960
Abstract
OBJECTIVES. The purpose of the study was to determine the contraceptive efficacy of the female condom and to provide data about the device to the US Food and Drug Administration. METHODS. The clinical trial was conducted at six US sites and three sites in Latin America. Eligible subjects were in mutually monogamous relationships and agreed to use the female condom as their only means of contraception for 6 months. RESULTS. A total of 328 subjects contributed to the analysis of contraceptive efficacy. Twenty-two US subjects and 17 Latin American subjects became pregnant, yielding 6-month gross cumulative accidental pregnancy rates of 12.4 and 22.2, respectively. During perfect (consistent and correct) use of the method, the 6-month accidental pregnancy rates were 2.6 and 9.5 for the US and Latin American centers, respectively. There were no serious adverse events related to the use of the method. CONCLUSIONS. The female condom provides contraceptive efficacy in the same range as other barrier methods, particularly when used consistently and correctly, and has the added advantage of helping protect against sexually transmitted diseases.Keywords
This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit:
- Comparative Contraceptive Efficacy of The Female Condom and Other Barrier MethodsFamily Planning Perspectives, 1994
- Methodological pitfalls in the analysis of contraceptive failureStatistics in Medicine, 1991
- A guide to interpreting contraceptive efficacy studies.1990
- Preliminary evaluation of REALITY, a condom for women to wearAdvances in Contraception, 1989