Female Condom Use and Its Acceptability Among HIV-serodiscordant Couples in China.
Lahong Ju, Cynthia X Shi, Fan Lv and 8 others
PMID 31241507WHAT IT FOUND
All 89 couples used female condoms at least once, and 58.4% accepted them after 3 months.
Adverse reactions were minor; 13.5% of women and 2.2% of men reported any. Free supply means real-world uptake may differ.
Key findings
01All 89 couples reported using a female condom at least once, and 76 of the 89 couples used 9 to 12 female condoms.
02At the end of the study, 58.4% of couples expressed acceptance of the female condom.
03Adverse reactions were categorized as minor, and 13.5% of women and 2.2% of men reported any adverse reaction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only married heterosexual serodiscordant couples from three counties in China were enrolled, so the findings may not apply to unmarried couples, other relationship types, or other settings. Participants received female condoms free of charge, repeated training, and follow-up support, which may have increased use and acceptability compared with routine practice. The study had no control group and did not measure HIV, STI, or pregnancy prevention outcomes. Follow-up was 3 months, and the paper does not report completion or dropout counts for the contacts. Use, adverse reactions, and attitudes were self-reported through logs and interviews, so they may be affected by recall and willingness to report problems.
Declared interests
The authors report no real or perceived vested interests related to the article. The publication types list NIH extramural and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that female condoms prevent HIV transmission from this study. It measured use and acceptability over 3 months, not infection outcomes, and the condoms were provided free with training.