Perceived confidence to use female condoms among students in Tertiary Institutions of a Metropolitan City, Southwestern, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Latex condoms for men have been documented to offer high efficacy as both a contraceptive and protection against sexually transmitted diseases. This equally establishes the importance of continued research on female condoms. This study aims to investigate the perceived confidence to use the female condoms amongst undergraduate female students from selected tertiary institutions from Ibadan Southwestern Nigeria. METHODS: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey involving 388 female undergraduate students selected through a multistage sampling technique. The survey was carried using pre-tested semi-structured questionnaires. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to generate frequencies, cross tabulations of variables at 5% level of significance. RESULTS: Mean age of respondents 18.26 ± 3.45 with most students being 20–24 years (55.2%), single (92.8%), Yorubas (85.6%) and from the polytechnic institutions (41.0%). Only 10.8% had good perceived confidence to use a female condom. Perceived confidence was significantly higher amongst other ethnicities (19.59 ± 3.827) compared to Yoruba ethnicity (18.04 ± 3.337) (F = 9.935; p < 0.05). Likewise, students from the Polytechnic campuses exhibited significantly higher mean scores (18.81 ± 3.187) compared to others (F = 3.724; p < 0.05). Perception towards the condom was a significant factor that influenced the confidence to use a female condom (F = 9.896; p < 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Concerted efforts are advocated to improve the low perception exhibited towards the use of female condoms and the low perceived confidence to its utilization. This would help to transfer the decision making and control to women thus contributing to their empowerment and increased protection from unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.