Source: Reproduction  |  Posted 9 years ago

Urinary tract infection risk can be higher among women who have sexual intercourse with men who use condoms, especially those which have a spermicide Nonoxynol-9 coating.

A cohort of 519 women between the ages of 15 and 29 were enrolled in a contraceptive acceptability study to examine whether recent use of male condoms increases urinary tract infection risk. Urinary tract infection was identified among 165 women over a 12-month follow-up period by researchers at the School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States.

Researchers then analysed 100 of the women with urinary tract infections, after excluding those who had had a recurrence of a urinary tract infection, urinary tract abnormalities, used antibiotics, used either a diaphragm or cervical cap, or who were pregnant. They were matched with 200 controls.

Adjustment was made for the age of the women, their history of urinary tract infections, any hormonal contraceptive use and frequency of sexual intercourse.

When the cohort was compared with women not using barrier methods, the odds ratio 2.8 for any reported use of condoms coated with Nonoxynol-9 in the previous 30 days. The odds ratio was 11.5 among women when her male partner exclusively used Nonoxynol-9-coated condoms in the previous 30 days, and the odds ratio was 7.4 among women whose male partner exclusively used condoms which were not coated with Nonoxynol-9.