Condom use in heavy drinking college students: the importance of always using condoms.
OBJECTIVE
The authors examined whether alcohol use decreased condom use.


METHODS
The subjects were heavy-drinking students on 5 different college campuses.


METHODS
A face-to-face interview, administered between November of 2004 and February of 2007, gathered information about condom use, alcohol use, and other behaviors. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess predictors of condom use.


RESULTS
Of the 1715 participants, 64% reported that they did not always use condoms. Male students who drank heavily were less likely to always use condoms (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 0.61). Participants with more sexual partners used condoms less when drinking (AOR 1.93 for men, 1.45 for women).


CONCLUSIONS
Many students do not use condoms consistently, especially those who drink heavily or have multiple sexual partners. Clinicians at student health need to encourage all students to use condoms every time they have intercourse.
Certain
Heather E
HE
Department of Hospital Medicine, Meriter Health Services, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. hcertain@meriter.com
Harahan
Brian J
BJ
Saewyc
Elizabeth M
EM
Fleming
Michael F
MF
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D017280:Condoms / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014495:Universities; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult