[Possible reduction of cervical cancer by the use of barrier-type contraceptives]

Forty-four cervical cancer inpatients and 44 individually age-matched controls were surveyed. As a result, the number of the cases whose partners used condoms for contraception was significantly lower than that of the controls (P less than 0.01; the odds ratio = 0.2). The same result was obtained after adjusting possible confounding variables such as the number of pregnancies and use of other contraceptive methods. Barrier-type contraceptives like condoms may reduce the incidence of sexually transmitted viral infections, which it has been suggested are associated with the disease.