Frequency of alcohol use and its association with STD/HIV-related risk practices, attitudes and knowledge among an AfricanAmerican community-recruited sample

Abstract

The aim was to determine the association between frequency of alcohol use in the past 30 days and HIV-related risk behaviours among adults in an African-American community. Data were collected by trained street outreach workers, from 522 persons in 4 areas selected on the basis of 7 health and criminal justice indicators of high risk for HIV, STD and substance abuse, and drug-related arrests. A survey assessed demographics, substance use, sexual behaviour, HIV knowledge, attitudes and depression. Subjects reporting using drugs other than alcohol (n=201) were excluded from analyses to avoid the confounding influence of polysubstance use. Of the remaining 321 subjects (mean age=37.1; 58.5% were male), 43.6% reported no alcohol use in the past 30 days, with 37.4% and 19.0%, respectively, having used alcohol < =15 days and = > 16 days in the past 30 days. Alcohol use frequency (no alcohol, 1-15 days, 16-30 days in past month) was significantly associated with being male, STD history, non-use of condoms, higher perceived risk of HIV, lower condom use self-efficacy, multiple sex partners in the past 30 days, and lower HIV-related knowledge. Frequent alcohol use, in the absence of other drugs, is associated with higher levels of HIV risk behaviours. Though an underserved population with respect to HIV prevention and, given the prevalence of alcohol use, the findings suggest that programmes need to target frequent alcohol users to reduce their HIV-associated risk behaviours and enhance HIV risk-reduction knowledge and attitudes associated with the adoption of HIV prevention practices.

Unprotected sex, sexually transmitted infections and problem drinking among female sex workers in Ethiopia

“…This may be a better indicator of the influence of alcohol on safer sex than just the use of alcohol, which does not properly take into account the volume of intake. This finding concurs with several other findings, where alcohol use by either FSW themselves or their sexual partners increases the risk of non condom use (5,10,(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). In the four country study mentioned previously, alcohol consumption was not found to be associated with condom use in men.…”

“…For women, drinking alcohol more than once a week was found to be associated with a decreased rate of condom use in Yaoundè. Other studies have shown that regular alcohol use or the presence of a drinking problem is one of the strongest predictors of non condom use when visiting a FSW or other non regular sexual partners (15)(16)(17). In the present study, Khat use was not found to be significantly associated with condom use.…”

Current Sexual Activity and Risky Sexual Behavior in Older Men With or At Risk for HIV Infection

“…As shown in other studies (Morrison, DiClemente, Wingood, & Collins, 1998;Nadeau, Truchon, & Biron, 2000), drug and alcohol use were associated with risky sexual behavior in bivariate analyses, and drug use remained associated in multivariate analysis. However, alcohol use dropped out of the multivariate model, likely due to the highly significant positive relationship between drug and alcohol use.…”

Risk Factors of Alcohol Problem Drinking Among Female Bar/Hotel Workers in Moshi, Tanzania: A Multi-level Analysis

“…Alcohol use has been associated with various sexual risktaking behaviors, including having multiple sex partners [1], and low condom use [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. In a qualitative study linking alcohol use and sexual risk behavior across eight countries including Russia, Kenya, and India, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified a number of interactions between alcohol use and sexual behaviors, including using alcohol-selling venues as meeting places for sexual partners, and using alcohol during first sexual encounters [9].…”