Older lovers less likely to use condoms (1)

BRITONS starting new sexual relationships in their 30s and 40s are less likely to use condoms than teenagers, a survey showed today.

The research, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, found 68% of men and 67.4% of women aged 16 to 19 used a condom the first time they had sex with a partner.

But this dropped to 38.1% of men and 28.8% of women aged 35 to 44.

Dr Catherine Mercer, lecturer at the Centre for Sexual Health and HIV Research at University College London, led the research which looked at the heterosexual relationships of 11,161 people.

She said interventions promoting consistent condom use with new partners were "urgently required" for those in their 30s and older, as well as for the younger people traditionally targeted.

"I definitely think older people need to be encouraged to use condoms a lot more when they start new partnerships," she said.

"We didn't ask people why they didn't use condoms but maybe it's complacency, or denial something will happen to them.

"Maybe because young people are the focus of campaigns they don't think sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are a threat to them."

Although other forms of contraception may have been used, she said these were unlikely to protect against STIs at the start of a relationship.

"Really unless both partners have been screened for STIs, you would really hope they were using condoms," she said.

Dr Mercer said the growing number of divorces added to concern about the older age group's sexual health.

"Although a disproportionate amount of partnerships are formed among people in their teens and 20s, the fact is that about 45% of marriages are now expected to end in divorce, which means that the 'population attributable risk' of partnership formation by those in their 30s and 40s will increase," she said.

The researchers also found partners were less likely to use condoms the first time they had sex if the age gap between them was five years or more: 44.1% compared to 60.8% of those who were closer in age.

Dr Mercer said this "may reflect unequal power relations, so that younger people in such partnerships may not have the necessary communication and negotiation skills to ensure safe sex with older partners".

The findings showed a higher proportion of men's partnerships were described as "not regular" - 39.1% compared to 20% of women's.

And men had sex sooner after first meeting a partner than women, with one in five reporting sex within 24 hours of meeting a partner compared to one in 10 women.