Double Dutch: looking at the usage of combined pill plus condom in girls under 25

To establish what proportion of young girls who were prescribed the contraceptive pill at Manchester family planning clinics have first remembered, and second followed, advice also to use the condom for protection from sexually transmitted infection.

An anonymous self-administered questionnaire was issued to all females up to the age of 25 years, who were already using the pill and who attended one of 20 different clinic locations. Questions included duration of present relationship, frequency of condom use and reasons for use or non-use.

The age of respondents ranged from 13 to 25 years, with one-third in the group of 17-19-year-olds. Out of 104 responses, condoms were used most of the time by 29 girls, occasionally by 42 and never by 33. Only 15 of the 104 knew the phrase 'double Dutch'. Dual use most of the time primarily for sexually transmitted disease protection was reported by 23 girls. Previous treatment for sexually transmitted disease was reported by 14 girls, of whom half never used condoms and only three now used condoms most of the time. In the group of girls using condoms occasionally, 70% were using condoms primarily to cover missed pills, antibiotics, etc. Extrapolating from the number of condoms used in the past month and the fact that 80% of girls obtained their condoms from the clinic, the extra cost to the family planning budget is over 14,000 Pounds (over 22,500 Ecu) per year.

Our result that 22% of young pill users regularly used condoms to protect from sexually transmitted diseases indicates that the message is understood, but the term 'double Dutch' is not.