Ill-fitting condoms more likely to split

Badly fitting condoms are not only likely to split and break, but they may also reduce sexual pleasure for both partners, according to a new study.
Researchers based their findings on 436 men aged between 18 and 67, who were recruited via newspaper advertisements and a blog on the website of a condom sales company.

The men completed a questionnaire on the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction website about the fit of condom they had most recently used for penetrative sex with a female partner.
Almost half the participants said that they had used a badly fitting condom when they had last had sex during the previous three months. They were more than 2.5 times as likely to report breakage or slippage as those whose condoms were a good fit, and five times as likely to report penile irritation.
They were around twice as likely to say that the poorly fitting condom made it difficult for them and/or their partner to reach orgasm and that this curbed sexual pleasure for both parties. They were also around twice as likely to say that their poorly fitting condom interfered with getting and maintaining an erection. And they were twice as likely to say they removed the condom before sex had ended.
The authors acknowledge that their study, which is the first of its kind to look at the impact of poorly fitting condoms on sexual functioning, is limited by its reliance on self report. Nevertheless, they say that the findings ‘emphasise the point that men and their female sex partners may benefit from public health efforts designed to promote the improved fit of condoms’.
Sexually Transmitted Infections 2010;86:36-38