Condom Breakage and Slippage
Our survey respondents were asked whether they or their partner had experienced breakage or slippage with their current brand of condom. Over half had never experienced breakage or slippage. Condom slippage had been experienced at some point or another by slightly more respondents than had experienced condom breakage (44% for slippage compared to 36% for breakage). Frequent condom slippage or breakage had only been experienced by a small minority of respondents (6% in both cases). Chart
The interpretation of condom slippage and breakage can be very difficult unless you ask very specific questions about whether, for example, the slippage was only part-way along or completely off the penis and whether breakage took place before, during or after intercourse.
Some researchers have in the past suggested that a man’s circumcision status may have some effect on condom performance during use. The analysis of the data provided by those taking part in this survey show that the prevalence of both condom slippage or breakage is not affected by circumcision status.
What our survey results do is give us some indication of how penis size and condom fit affect condom performance and, in particular, condom breakage. First we can look at the penis sizes of the respondents who had different experiences of condom breakage. This is shown in the Chart for respondents who had either never experienced condom breakage or, at the opposite end of the spectrum, had experienced condom breakage on many occasions.
The number of responses amongst those saying they had never experienced condom breakage rises slightly with increasing penis size and peaks in the region of the average penis size (erect circumference = 133 mm). As penis size increases beyond this there is a fall in the numbers saying they had never experienced breakage.
For the (much smaller) number of people who had experienced condom breakage on many occasions, the response appears to be relatively unaffected by penis size except for circumferences in excess of 190 mm which account for 39% of the total in this category.
What this data suggests is that men with penises that are wider than the average and, to a much lesser extent, smaller than average have more chance of experiencing condom breakage than those with average-sized penises. However, if the size data can be relied upon, they are not likely to experience very high levels of breakage unless their penis is very much wider than average.
This interpretation is backed-up by a breakdown of the results in terms of condom fit, which is shown in this Chart.
More than half of those who had never experienced condom breakage said the condoms that they use fitted perfectly whilst just over one-fifth thought they were too tight. Even fewer felt their condoms were excessively tight or were loose.
Amongst those who had experienced breakage on many occasions, however, over half rated their condoms as much too tight which is consistent with the high proportion of frequent condom breakers with very large penises.
