Birth: 99 Percent of Sexually Active Women in U.S. Prefer Condoms as Birth Control Method

When choosing a birth control method, condoms still take the cake for number one usage in America according to reports.

An overwhelming 99 percent of 53 million sexually active women said they had used at least one kind of contraception in their lives, and 93 percent said they would usually choose condoms for intercourse according to The Wahsington Times. 

This widespread use of condoms is  "one of the most striking changes" seen in U.S. contraceptive trends, said Kimberly Daniels and her colleagues at the National Center for Health Statistics, an agency in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 1982, it is reported that 52 percent of sexually active women said they preferred to use condoms.

However, but 1995, condom use had jumped to 82 percent. Researchers propose that this may have been related to the battle against AIDS. And by 2010, the usage had reached 93 percent, according to federal researchers, citing data from various years of the National Survey of Family Growth.

Coming in at a close second is the birth-control pill, with 82 percent of sexually active women using it and 44 percent saying they have used the product.

Other modern methods, including sponges, suppositories, female condoms and cervical caps, are rarely used.

About 12 million women said they used "periodic abstinence, calendar rhythm" or "natural family planning" to avoid pregnancy in 2010.

A second National Survey report, also released Thursday, found that about 11 percent of sexually experienced women, ages 15 to 44, had used "emergency contraception" to prevent pregnancy by 2010, which was almost was almost three times the number of women in 2002.

Emergency contraception is available to women 17 and older without a prescription, and many women's health groups want products sold over the counter, without restrictions.