CDC: Condom use up among teens

ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday reported that the use of condoms is up in teen males.

The report, “Teenagers in the United States: Sexual Activity, Contraceptive Use, and Childbearing, 2006-2010 National Survey of Family Growth,” from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, found that 8-in-10 teen males used a condom, an increase of 9 percentage points from 2002. The study also found that 16% of teen males used a condom in combination with a female partner’s hormonal method, a 6 percentage point increase from 2002.

Other findings included:

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  78% of females and 85% of males used a method of contraception. With a few exceptions, teenagers′ use of contraceptives has changed little since 2002, and the condom remained the most commonly used method;

  
  


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  One exception was an increase among males in the use of condoms and in dual use — the use of a condom combined with a partner’s use of hormonal contraceptive; and

  
  


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  Another exception was a significant increase in the percent of female teenagers who used hormonal methods other than the pill, such as injectables and the contraceptive patch. As many as 6% of teen females used a nonpill hormonal method in the latest survey compared to 2% in 2002.

  
  

The full report is available at www.cdc.gov/nchs.

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