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Only a third of men in the United States use a condom when they had sex, according to the latest CDC figures.

Condoms are the most popular contraceptive method in the US, but they are not always used correctly to provide the optimal effectiveness.

Experts say that while condom use remains low, they're encouraged by the figures showing an increase in usage among males since 2002.

However, other studies show there has also been an increase in sexually-transmitted infections - and this report offers a possible explanation.  

The survey was the first to cover Americans' struggles with condoms during sex, from some saying that it 'completely fell off' to others who only uses it for part of the act. 

A CDC report on 20,621 surveys showed that only a third of men and a quarter of women used a condom the last time they had sex. Condoms are the only form of contraception that can protect people from pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases

An independent sample of men and women aged between 15 and 44 from 2011 to 2015 was conducted to show what the condom use was in relation to gender, age, race and education level. 

When participants were asked about their last sexual experience, only 33.7 percent of males and 23.8 percent of females used a condom.

While this is higher than previous studies about men, 23.8 percent has decreased for females.   

The decrease is not a drastic decrease for women, though, but use of other contraception methods such as the pill and IUD's could have contributed to drop in use of condoms.

The CDC analyzed responses from 20,621 women and men age 15 to 44 from 2011 to 2015 to see when the condom was used by the general public.

Casey E. Copen, the lead author of the study said: 'The main thing that was found was an increase in condom use among men. This is a positive step towards reducing STI's.'

Although Copen acknowledges there was an increase from 2002 in men using condoms, there was was also an increase in sexually transmitted infections such as chlamydia, according to a previous CDC report. 

'There is still work to be done,' Copen said. 

This new report is the first one to cover the issues that females have in condom use.

The survey asked females why they had problems with using condoms.

Many said the condom 'broke or completely fell of', others used one only part of the time during intercourse, or took it off during sex before ejaculation.

In the report it said that 29.6 percent of women in the past four weeks of the survey had a problem with a condom. 

Only 6.5 percent said that the condom fell off while 25.8 percent said that they used the condom for only part of the intercourse. 

'Condoms are only effective when used correctly and consistently,' Copen said.

Copen thinks that this report should inform people that the issue is not always with the product, but with people's lack of knowledge on how to use it. 

Additionally, the report showed that people aged 15 to 19 were more likely to use condoms than those aged 33 to 44. 

Only 15.7 percent of women and 6.7 percent of men aged 15-19 did not use a condom at all over a year. 

This is in contrast to 74.9 percent of women and 70.9 percent of men aged 33-44 that did not use one at all during the year. 

Though the number is a large percentage of people aged 33-44 not using condoms, this is expected since more people are at the time where they are in a monogamous relationship or trying for a baby.   

One common factor besides age that changed who used condoms was race. 

White males and females were less likely to use a condom compared to other races such as Hispanic and African American from 2011 to 2015.

This factor could be due to the different access and preferences towards types of contraception among races.  

Another factor considered was education level among the participants. 

Across all of the studies it was revealed that condom use increased as the level of education increased. 

Condom use is important because of what this form of contraception can protect against. 

It is currently the only contraception available that can protect against pregnancy and most sexually transmitted diseases, including HPV. 

Other contraception choices such as the pill and IUD's, though, could help explain why there is a lack of condom use among both women and men. 

Though contraceptive methods such as the pill and IUD's prove to be helpful when preventing a pregnancy, they do not prevent against any sexually transmitted diseases.

Some factors that the study did not look into was the number of people that used another contraception besides the condom. 

Instead, it focused on if people used a combination of a condom with another form or if the participant only used the condom.