A pilot study on the functional performance and acceptability of an innovative female condom (Wondaleaf ® ) in Malaysia

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Abstract

Background

Female condom (FC) has been available for over 30 years, but it still lacks wide acceptability. To overcome misdirection and invagination occurring in FC and to provide a wider area of protection, Wondaleaf ^® (WL), a new-generation adhesive FC, was recently invented. This pioneering study sought to assess the acceptability and functional performance of WL among Malaysian women.

Methods

A mixed method survey was conducted in three cities of Malaysia, recruiting sexually active heterosexual women, aged 18–50, by snowball sampling method. Participants were provided with WL and initially surveyed to rate its performance in five coital usages over 2 months. After that, the participants underwent a second survey to rate their satisfaction and acceptability toward WL. Descriptive statistics on clinical failure rates were tabulated with correlational analysis performed to identify major variables contributing to WL’s functional performance and acceptability.

Results

Out of the 51 enrolled participants, 31 women completed the required surveys. WL’s total clinical failure rate was 2.60% (out of 155 condom uses) with above-average ratings of functional performance. The ease of use significantly correlated with ratings of no slippage and no misdirection. The confidence in WL’s safety features significantly correlated with a sense of empowerment and protection.

Conclusion

WL has a relatively low risk of clinical failures and an overall favorable acceptability among Malaysian women. However, this study also showed that its future usage largely depends on partner acceptability. It may have the potential of complementing the existing barrier toward contraceptive use. Further studies are needed to understand the global acceptability of WL.

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Most cited references 24

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The female condom: the international denial of a strong potential.

Anny Peters, Francien van Nederveen, Willy Jansen (2010)

The female condom has received surprisingly little serious attention since its introduction in 1984. Given the numbers of women with HIV globally, international support for women's reproductive and sexual health and rights and the empowerment of women, and, not least, due to the demand expressed by users, one would have expected the female condom to be widely accessible 16 years after it first appeared. This expectation has not materialised; instead, the female condom has been marginalised in the international response to HIV and AIDS. This paper asks why and analyses the views and actions of users, providers, national governments and international public policymakers, using an analytical framework specifically designed to evaluate access to new health technologies in poor countries. We argue that universal access to female condoms is not primarily hampered by obstacles on the users' side, as is often alleged, nor by unwilling governments in developing countries, but that acceptability of the female condom is problematic mainly at the international policy level. This view is based on an extensive review of the literature, interviews with representatives of UNAIDS, UNFPA and other organisations, and a series of observations made during the International AIDS Conference in Mexico in August 2008. Copyright 2010 Reproductive Health Matters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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The female condom: tool for women's empowerment.

E Gollub (2000)

International and US experience with the female condom has shown that the device empowers diverse populations of women, helping them negotiate protection with their partners, promoting healthy behaviors, and increasing self-efficacy and sexual confidence and autonomy. This commentary reflects on some approaches that have been taken to study empowerment and makes several observations on the political and scientific initiatives needed to capitalize on this empowerment potential. Women's interest in the female condom indicates a need for more women's barrier methods to be made available. For some women, cultural proscriptions against touching the genitals may create initial hesitancy in trying these methods. But the disposition of regulatory agencies and the attitudes of health care providers has unfortunately exaggerated this reticence, thereby effectively reducing access to these methods. Also, lack of important detail in clinical studies restricts our capacity to introduce the female condom, or similar methods, under optimal conditions. Future trials should prioritize community-based designs and address a range of other critical health and social issues for women. Women's need for HIV/AIDS prevention technologies remains an urgent priority. Both political and scientific efforts are needed to realize the public health potential embodied in the female condom.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Open Access J Contracept

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Open Access J Contracept

Journal ID (publisher-id): Open Access Journal of Contraception

Title: Open Access Journal of Contraception

Publisher: Dove Medical Press

ISSN (Electronic): 1179-1527

Publication date Collection: 2018

Publication date (Electronic): 24 January 2018

Volume: 9

Pages: 11-20

Affiliations

[1 ]School of Sociology, China University of Political Sciences and Law, Beijing, China

[2 ]InPsych Psychological and Counselling Services, Kuala Lumpur

[3 ]Institute of Borneo Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Sarawak, Malaysia

Author notes

Correspondence: Rachel Sing-Kiat Ting, Department of Psychology, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 47500 Bandar Sunway, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia, Tel +60 84 326 631, Email racheltsk@ 123456cupl.edu.cn

Article

Publisher ID: oajc-9-011

DOI: 10.2147/OAJC.S152505

PMC ID: 5804018

SO-VID: c892cc37-5fe5-403c-af06-8e5def35e48a

License:

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