Survey Shows More U.S. Teens Turning to Condoms

The use of condoms among teenagers in the United States has "increased significantly" in less than a decade, an in-depth survey on the sexual conduct of American adolescents said Wednesday.

Eighty percent of male teens used a condom the first time they had sex in the 2006-2010 survey period, up from 71 percent in 2002, said the study from the Centers for Disease Control, a U.S. government agency.

Sixteen percent used a condom in combination with a female hormonal method, such as the contraceptive pill, up from 10 percent, added the study, which drew on data collected during a wider National Survey of Family Growth.

Responses from boys and girls aged 15 to 19 also revealed a "significant increase" in the proportion of female teenagers using hormonal contraceptives other than the pill, such as patches and injections.

During the 2006-2010 period, when 4,662 teens participated in face-to-face interviews, about 43 percent of unmarried female teenagers and 42 percent of their male counterparts reported having had sex at least once.

"These levels of sexual experience have not changed significantly since 2002," said the report, was posted on the website of the Centers for Disease Control (www.cdc.gov/nchs).

Sarah Brown of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy welcomed the findings in the context of what she called record low levels of teen pregnancy and birth rates in the United States.

"The credit for this truly extraordinary progress goes to teens themselves who are making better decisions about sex and contraceptive use," said Brown in a statement.