P30.06
Background: The availability of new female condom (FC) designs, which may improve FC acceptability and affordability, will increase options for couples who choose FCs as their contraceptive and/or disease prevention method. The acceptability of 2 new products: HLL FC and Cupid 2 (smaller version of the existing Cupid FC) compared to the currently available FC2 was evaluated as part of a trial assessing the functional performance of the 2 new FCs. Here we present the acceptability results of the trial.
Methods: This randomized, comparative cross-over clinical trial of 3 FCs was conducted among 300 women in an urban reproductive health clinic in Durban, South Africa. Interviewer- assisted surveys were employed during 3 follow-up visits to gather data on comparative acceptability. Numbers and percentages of women in each category of acceptability were calculated.
Results: In total, 277 women (92.3%) have completed the study to date using all 3 FC types. Mean age was 27.3 years and 22% had previously used FCs. Of the total sample entered and analysed to date (n=113), over 80% of women liked all FC types ‘very much’ or liked them ‘somewhat’ and over 90% said each type was comfortable to use For individual features there were minimal differences between the condoms however two-thirds of women (66.0%) liked “very much” the pink colour of Cupid2 compared to 53% of the FC2 and HLL FCs. Although over a third of women 38.9% found any FC type “difficult to insert but improved with practice” at first follow-up, by the last follow-up visit only a fifth (19.5%) reported this, with “very easy to insert” any FC increasing from 9.7% to 37.2% by last visit.
Conclusions: Results from this study show that regardless of FC type, ease of use increased across each follow-up visit. Although women expressed preferences for different FC features, acceptability of all FCs overall was high. A greater range of FCs will provide women with more choice of protection. Data for the full sample of 300 women completing the study will be presented.
