Condom Failure Among Men Receiving Sexually Transmissible Infection Clinic Services, Cape Town, South Africa

While condoms offer "the most realistic and available protection" against STDs and HIV, the authors noted that these benefits are compromised if the condom breaks or tears. In the current study, the researchers set out to examine condom failure and behavioral risk factors associated with condom failure in a group of South African men at high risk for HIV transmission.

The study's subjects, 431 men receiving STD treatment at a public clinic, completed computer-assisted interviews and STD clinic chart abstraction during an observation period of one year.

A history of condom failure was reported by one man in three. "Condom failure was associated with sexual exchange, alcohol and other drug use, and higher rates of unprotected vaginal intercourse," the authors wrote. Those participants reporting a history of condom failure were significantly more likely to have an STD diagnosis one month prior to the baseline interview and were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with an STD over the following year.

"Condom failures are common among [STD] clinic patients and pose a threat for increased HIV transmission risks," the authors concluded.

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