Condom Use Research Team (KI-CURT)
Condoms are a critical public health strategy for disease and pregnancy prevention. But their effectiveness hinges on more than consistent use. Men and women must also use them correctly. Kinsey Institute’s Condom Use Research Team (KI-CURT) fills an important gap in safe-sex research by studying the reasons condoms can fail.
2018 Menstruation and Condom Use Survey
KI-CURT and women's health app CLUE collaborated last fall to poll 95,000 people from 200 countries on condom use and menstruation from a women's perspective.
Why do we need condom research?
Condoms are the cornerstone of efforts to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STI) and pregnancies. Still, one in two people will contract an STI by age 25. People under 25 also comprise almost half of new HIV infections in the US—the majority through sexual behavior. Could proper condom use prevent some of these infections?KI-CURT's research findings:
- Consistency is not enough for protection
- Men and women do not have an innate understanding of how to use them (a common misconception)
Challenges to correct condom use
A 2002 study of college-age men reported that in the previous three months
- 30% put the condom on upside down and then turned it over
- 40% did not leave room at the tip of the condom when applying it
- 15% removed the condom before completing intercourse
- 43% put condoms on after starting sex
- 32% had erection loss while applying the condom
- 42% wanted to use condoms but had none available
Further, men who experience condom associated erection problems (CAEP) also report inconsistent condom use and not using condoms for the complete act of intercourse.
If condom use is incorrect, it won't protect. Understanding and addressing these reasons is critical to preventing STI transmission and unplanned pregnancy.
The Kinsey Institute Condom Use Research Team (KI-CURT)
The Kinsey Institute Condom Use Research Team (KI-CURT) is an internationally recognized, multidisciplinary team that was formed in 2000 and is vested in advancing global sexual health through its research on the behavioral aspects of male condom use.
KI-CURT comprises:
- Kinsey Institute senior scientists Stephanie Sanders and William Yarber at Indiana University, and
- Kinsey Institute research fellows Cynthia Graham at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom; Richard Crosby at University of Kentucky; and Robin Milhausen of the University of Guelph, Ontario.
KI-CURT has published over 50 articles and two book chapters on various condom use-associated variables such as pleasure, sexual arousal, fit and feel, use errors and problems, erection difficulties, circumcision status, motivation, self-efficacy, relationship type, and alcohol and drug use. In 2012 KI-CURT edited a special issue of the journal Sexual Health: Condom use to prevent sexually transmitted infections: a global perspective.
KI-CURT Research Highlights
- Several of KI-CURT’s projects have focused on identifying barriers to condom use among Black men who have sex with men (MSM) in the Deep South and implementing educational programs to increase condom use efficacy among this population. This focus among Black MSM is particularly significant give that this population is disproportionally impacted by HIV/AIDS. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that Blacks are the racial/ethnic group most affected by HIV in the United States and that MSM account for a majority of new HIV diagnoses among African Americans.
- Research by KI-CURT has provided the impetus for the development of a new male condom with a unique design, the O-Ring. This condom, recently cleared by the Food and Drug Administration and is now available for purchase. Adam Glickman of O-Ring Products, LLC – the company that developed the O-Ring condom—stated “The work of the Kinsey Institute Condom Use Research Team to identify, document, and explain obstacles and errors in the use of condoms provided the data needed to validate our hunch that condoms are too easy to apply the wrong way.”
- A recent highlight of KI-CURT’s work was the development of home-based and clinic condom use educational programs for both men and women based on the findings of KI-CURT’s prior observational research and behavior-change theory. KI-CURT, in collaboration with the Indiana University Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention (RCAP), has created several interventions designed to increase correct and consistent condom use that are consistent with sexual pleasure. These include The Kinsey Institute Homework Intervention Strategy (KI-HIS), which has been tested for MSM and men who have sex with women resulting in manuscripts published in the Journal of Men’s Health (2011) and the Journal of American College Health (2014). Further pilot testing of KI-HIS among African American men was funded by a R21 National Institutes of Health grant. The KI-HIS has also been adapted for use in the United Kingdom (KI-HIS-UK) and a feasibility study has recently been completed. A web-based version of KI-HIS-UK has also been developed and is currently being evaluated.
- A condom-focused intervention for tourism workers, Tourism Worker Intervention Safer Sex Training (KI-TWIST), was pilot tested in a major tourism destination in Canada and published in The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality (2016). KI-CURT recently completed a pilot testing of a condom intervention for women on the Indiana University-Bloomington campus, Home-based Exercises for Responsible Sex (KI-HERS); a manuscript was submitted to a professional journal this summer (2017). A condom-based program for couples, The Home-based Exercises for Increasing Responsible Sex (KI-THEIRS), is also currently being pilot-tested on the IUB campus in spring and fall 2017.
Recent KI-CURT Publications
A full list of KI-CURT Publications is also available (PDF).
Crosby, R. A., Graham, C. A., Milhausen, R. A., Sanders, S. A., & Yarber, W. L. Correct Condom Use Self-Efficacy Scale. (in press). In (eds.) R. Milhausen, J. Sakaluk, Fisher, C. Davis, & W. Yarber. Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures, Fourth Edition. New York: Routledge.
Crosby, R. A., Graham, C. A., Milhausen,R. R., Sanders, S. A., & Yarber, W. L. (in press). Condom Use Errors/Problems Survey. New York: Routledge. In (eds.) R. Milhausen, J. Sakaluck, T. Fisher, C. Davis & Yarber, W. L. Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measurers. New York: Routledge.
Crosby, R. A., Graham, C. A., Milhausen,R. R., Sanders, S. A., & Yarber, W. L. (in press). Condom Barriers Scale for Young Black Men Who Have Sex With Men. In (eds.) R. Milhausen, J. Sakaluk, T. Fisher, C. Davis, & W. Yarber. Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures, Fourth Edition. New York: Routledge.
Milhausen, R., Graham, C., Sanders, S., Scott, B., Maitland, M., & Yarber, W. L. (in press). Sexual Excitement/Sexual Inhibition Inventory for Women and Men. In (eds.) R. Milhausen, J. Sakaluk, T. Fisher, C. Davis, & W. Yarber. Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures, Fourth Edition. New York: Routledge.
Sanders, S.A., Crosby, R.A., Milhausen. R.R., et al. (2017). Women’s willingness to experiment with condoms and lubricants: A study of women residing in a high HIV seroprevalence area. International Journal of STDs & AIDS . 2017; Jan 1:956462417727690. doi: 10.1177/0956462417727690.
Milhausen, R. R., McKay, A., Graham, C. A., Sanders, S. A., Crosby, R. A., Yarber, W. , and Wood, J. (2017).Do associations between pleasure ratings and condom use during condom use vary by relationship type: A study of Canadian university students. Journal of Sex Research. DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2017.1298713.
Crosby, R. A., Milhausen, R. R., Graham, C. A., Yarber, W. L., Sanders, S. A., Geter, A., & Mena, L. (2017) Antecedents of condom-protected oral sex among young Black MSM. International Journal of Sexual Health. OI.org/10.1080/19317611.20171292339.