NEW YORK (Reuters):

Many young men could use a bit more instruction on proper condom use, according to lead author of a new study that found nearly one in three experienced recent condom breakage.

"I think it's important to take men beyond consistent use when we make attempts to intervene, and promote the correct use as well," Dr. R. A. Crosby of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, told Reuters Health.

Crosby and his colleagues interviewed 278 men between the ages of 18 and 35 years old attending a public sexually transmitted infection clinic to understand how frequently and why condom breakage occurs. All of the men reported using a condom during intercourse at least three times in the previous three months.

Thirty-one per cent reported at least one recent instance of condom breakage. Men who previously had a sexually transmitted infection were twice as likely to report condom breakage, while men who reported problems with condom slippage were nearly three times as likely to have problems with condom breakage.