Female Condom Gives Women a Viable Alternative

October 15th, 2009

(PhysOrg.com) -- Fertility specialist Michael Thomas, MD, and his team at UC Health's Center for Reproductive Health have been awarded a $608,000 grant to study a particular female condom and its design improvements.

The advantage of the female condom is twofold: It acts as a contraceptive and helps protect against sexually transmitted diseases, says Michael Thomas, MD, the principal investigator on a new study to determine the efficacy of a recently developed brand of female condom.

Thomas, a fertility specialist, and his team at UC Health’s Center for Reproductive Health have been awarded a $608,000 grant to study a particular female condom and its design improvements.

Female condoms have been on the market for over a decade, with two brands currently available. The brand that Thomas and 12 other university centers across the country will study was developed by PATH, an international nonprofit organization that strives to create sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health.

According to PATH, this condom has design changes which permit easier insertion and increased sensation while also providing protection against sexually transmitted disease.

The funding to study the PATH condom comes from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), whose focus is to develop safe and effective contraceptives for women.

When one looks at condoms in general, says Thomas, less than 10 percent of the U.S. population uses either male or female condoms, and 54 percent of the male condoms purchased are purchased by women. This shows, he says, that women are already attuned to taking responsibility for their sexual health.

In addition to empowering women to make their own health decisions, the female condom also addresses the alternative of non-hormonal birth control which can be applied prior to sexual activity.

The 2½-year study will follow a minimum of 200 women in six-month increments.

Provided by University of Cincinnati