Women Find
Female Condom Too
Costly, Study Reveals
A study measuring short-term female condom acceptability among 51
female sex workers in San José was carried out by the Instituto
Latinoamericano de Prevención y Educación en Salud in San José.
Each woman was trained in use of the female condom and was asked to
use the device if clients refused to use male condoms during a
2-week study period (male condoms were also distributed).
Two follow-up visits with short interviews were scheduled, including
questions on general reaction to the female condom by the
participants and their clients, ease and comfort of use, and
preferences for male or female devices.
At the first follow-up visit, 51% of the women reported they liked
the female condom very much and 45% reported they liked it somewhat.
Similar results were reported after the second follow-up phase.
Sixty-seven percent of the participants preferred the female condom
over the male condom, and, according to the the women, over half of
their clients liked the female condom very much or somewhat.
The most common problems during the first phase were difficulty to
insert (61%) and discomfort (43%).
However, during the second study phase a reduction in these problems
(22% and 25%, respectively) and other use-related problems were
noted. Although this new method is not yet available throughout
Costa Rica, these results should encourage sexually transmitted
diseases and HIV service organizations to make this method
accessible to women.
In another study conducted by the Organización Pasmo/ PSI Costa
Rica, women are reluctant to use the "female condom" because the
majority do not know it exists and for those who do, find the price
too high.
Eugenia Monterroso, who explained the study was carried out in El
Salvador and Nicaragua, found that the biggest barrier was the fact
that people, both men and women, were not aware of the female
condom's existence.
The price of the condom was also an issue. The study found that
women would sometimes use the same condom more than once, mainly due
to the high cost.
Monterroso said that sex workers favoured using the female condom
only when it was provided to them free of charge or sold at the same
price of male condoms.
Jorge Rivas, an investigator for Pasmo, said that condom use in
Central America is 90% in both the heterosexual and homesexual
population. |
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