Alcohol and drug use and related disorders: An underrecognized health issue among adolescents and young adults attending sexually transmitted disease clinics.
OBJECTIVE
The objectives of this study were to describe patterns of alcohol and drug use disorders among young persons attending a public sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinic and to determine their associations with sexual risk behaviors and STDs.


METHODS
Four hundred forty-eight men and women aged 15 to 24 who were attending an urban STD clinic completed an interviewer-administered questionnaire that assessed a broad range of substance use in general and for alcohol and marijuana use disorders.


RESULTS
Overall, 42.9% had an alcohol or marijuana use disorder (51.6% of males and 34.2% of females), whereas 30.6% had a confirmed STD. Participants with a substance use disorder were significantly more likely to have multiple sexual partners (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.5-3.4), to be inconsistent condom users (OR = 3.1; 95% CI = 1.5-6.3), and to have an STD (OR = 1.7; 95% CI = 1.1-2.6).


CONCLUSIONS
Among young STD clinic attendees, substance use disorders were more common than confirmed STDs. STD clinics may be an appropriate setting to screen for and address substance use disorders in young persons.
Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. cookrl@upmc.edu
Robert L
RL
Cook
Diane M
DM
Comer
Harold C
HC
Wiesenfeld
Chung-Chou H
CC
Chang
Ralph
R
Tarter
Judith R
JR
Lave
Duncan B
DB
Clark
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology