[Use of condoms during sexual intercourse: a population-based study]

Abstract

Objective: To describe characteristics associated with failure to use condoms during sexual intercourse by women.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional population-based study including 1,026 women aged 20-60 years living in the urban area of a city in Southern Brazil, in 2003. Cluster sampling was carried out by randomly selecting 40 of the city's 270 census sectors. We performed logistic regression analysis of failure to use condoms in relation to socioeconomic, demographic, obstetric, and health care usage variables.

Results: Among studied women, 867 (84.5%) reported being sexually active; of these, 252 (29.1%) wore condoms during sexual intercourse. Logistic regression showed that the most vulnerable groups were women who were married or in stable partnerships, and women aged more than 40 years. We found no associations with the other variables explored.

Conclusions: Prevalence of condom use was low; we were able to identify a group of women that needs to be targeted by health policies and services in order to improve perception of the risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases.