The Efficacy of Female Condom Skills Training in HIV Risk Reduction Among Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of skills training designed to increase female condom use among women recruited from family planning clinics in northern California.

Study participants (n=409) were randomly assigned to the experimental four-session female condom skills training intervention or the comparison four-session women's general health promotion intervention. Participants received condom use instructions at baseline and male and female condoms during the study. Audio computer-assisted self-interviews were completed at baseline and at three and six months.

At three- and six-month follow-up, women in the experimental group were more likely than those in the comparison group to have used the female condom at least once in the previous three months. The increase in the percentage of sexual acts protected by female condoms from baseline to six-month follow-up was greater for the experimental group. The percentage of sexual acts during which any condom was used was higher in the experimental group at six months. No differences in male condom use were observed.

"Outcomes suggest that skills training can increase female condom use and protected sexual acts without reducing male condom use among women," the authors concluded.

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