In a nationally representative sample of men aged 17-22, 23% of those using condoms reported experiencing at least one condom break during the previous 12 months. Of all condoms used, 2.5% had broken. In multivariate analyses, increased experience with condoms reduced the likelihood of experiencing condom breakage. Recent sex education was associated with an almost 80% decrease in the risk of breakage among young men who used condoms infrequently. Young males who had ever had a sexually transmitted disease (STD), or whose sexual partner had had an STD, were almost three times as likely as other respondents to have experienced condom breakage. In addition, young men with a household income of less than $60,000 were 2-3 times as likely to have broken a condom as were those with a higher household income.
PIP: Findings are presented upon the condom breakage experience of 933 sexually active men aged 17-22 years who had used a condom during the 12 months preceding the study survey. Data are drawn from the 1991 follow-up of the National Survey of Adolescent Males. 23% reported experiencing at least one condom break during the previous 12 months and 2.5% of all condoms used had broken. In multivariate analysis, increased experience with condoms reduced the likelihood of experiencing condom breakage, while recent sex education was associated with an almost 80% decrease in the risk of breakage among young men who used condoms infrequently. Young men who had ever had a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or whose sex partner had had a STD were almost three times as likely as other respondents to have experienced condom breakage. Finally, young men with a household income of less than $60,000 were 2-3 times as likely to have broken a condom as were those with a higher household income.