Consistency and Accuracy of Messages Regarding the Female Condom for Vaginal Use on U.S. Department of Health Websites

Objectives.Uptake of the female condom (FC) in the U.S. has been low.  One reason may be inadequate promotion and inaccurate information.  We evaluated the educational content about the FC on department of health (DOH) websites for accuracy and consistency in messaging.

Methods.Two people conducted independent reviews of the DOH websites for 50 U.S. states and 29 major municipalities (population >500,000) for the educational messages about the FC for vaginal use aimed at the general population or healthcare providers. 

Results.Only 49 (62.0%) of the DOH websites mentioned the FC, and numerous inconsistencies were observed. Of the websites that mention the FC, only 14.3% accurately reported that they are made of nitrile. Most websites (67.4%) did not provide instructions for vaginal insertion or removal of the product and of those that did, 6.1% mentioned that the FC could also be placed directly on the penis as an alternate method of application. Just 28.6% explicitly instructed to not use a female and male condom concurrently, while 32.7% said to use a FC only once. Among the 10 (20.4%) websites that mentioned that the FC could be inserted hours prior to vaginal intercourse, the messages ranged from 2 hours to 12 hours.

Conclusions. Only a slim majority of DOH websites even mention the FC and among those that do, there are numerous inconsistencies and inaccuracies.  This may impact the uptake the FC for pregnancy and disease prevention and compromise efficacy among those who do use the method.