Nearly half of adult women currently use sex toys or have tried them in the past, research shows. And women in relationships are even more likely to use them. Online sex toy stores such as Vibration-Station UK (http://www.vibration-station.co.uk) cater for both singles and partners alike and their range is well stocked with toys for both scenarios whether you are with a partner or not.

The report comes from Chicago's Berman Center. Directed by sex therapist Laura Berman, LCSW, PhD, the center focuses on women's sexual health and menopause.

The online study, funded by an unrestricted educational grant from drugstore.com, was conducted by Knowledge Networks for the Berman Center. The results were presented at the Women's Sexual Health State-of the-Art Series conference in Chicago.

A random sample of almost 2,600 women aged 18 to 60 were invited to participate in the survey. About 1,600 agreed to complete the survey, answering questions about their relationship status and use of sex toys.

According to the survey:

Forty-four percent said they currently use a sex toy or had done so in the past. The most commonly used sex toy was a vibrator.

Young women aged 25-34 were the most likely to have ever used a sex toy, with 51 said they currently used sex toys, and 17 said they currently used sex toys, and 21 said they had used sex toys in the past.

The use of sex toys was most popular among white women and women with some college education.

Thirty-four percent of white women said they currently used sex toys, compared with 22 of Hispanics, and 8 of women with a college degree and 29) said they were open about it with their partners. Almost two-thirds of women said their partners were supportive of their sex toy use.

The main reason cited for current or past sex toy use: curiosity.