The acceptability of reuse of the female condom among urban South African women

Abstract

This study assessed whether reuse of the female condom was acceptable among two groups of women in central Johannesburg, South Africa, who were taking part in two separate studies of female condom reuse. The first group consisted of women (aged 17 to 43years) attending a family planning/sexually transmitted infections (STIs) clinic who were participating in a cross-sectional survey of the acceptability of female condoms reuse (n=100). The second group included women (aged 18–40 years) at high risk for STI (80% self-declared sex workers) who were taking part in an ongoing cohort study to investigate the safety of reuse of the female condom through a structural integrity and microbial retention study (n=50). Among women participating in the acceptability study, 83% said that they would be willing to reuse the female condom, and 91% thought the idea of reuse, of the female condom was acceptable. All women taking part in the safety of reuse study and who reused the female condom up to seven time (n=49) reported that the steps involved in reusing the device were easy to perform and acceptable. All 49 women said they would reuse the female condom at least once, while 45% said they would use it a maximum of seven or eight times. From the results of the interviews with both study groups, it can be concluded that, among women in a South African urban environment who have used a male and/or female condom, the concept of reuse of the female condom is acceptable and thought to be a good idea.