Risk drinking and contraception effectiveness among college women

Abstract

Risk drinking, especially binge drinking, and unprotected sex may co-occur in college women and increase the risks of STI exposure and pregnancy, but the relationships among these behaviors are incompletely understood. A survey was administered to 2012 women of ages 18–24 enrolled in a public urban university. One-quarter of the college women (23%) drank eight or more drinks per week on average, and 63% binged in the past 90 days, with 64% meeting criteria for risk drinking. Nearly all sexually active women used some form of contraception (94%), but 18% used their method ineffectively and were potentially at risk for pregnancy. Forty-four percent were potentially at risk for STIs due to ineffective or absent condom usage. Ineffective contraception odds were increased by the use of barrier methods of contraception, reliance on a partner's decision to use contraception, and risk drinking, but were decreased by the use of barrier with hormonal contraception, being White, and later age to initiate contraception. In contrast, ineffective condom use was increased by reliance on a partner's decision to use condoms, the use of condoms for STI prevention only, and by risk drinking. Thirteen percent of university women were risk drinkers and using ineffective contraception, and 31% were risk drinkers and failing to use condoms consistently. Risk drinking is related to ineffective contraception and condom use. Colleges should promote effective contraception and condom use for STI prevention and consider coordinating their programs to reduce drinking with programs for reproductive health. Emphasizing the use of condoms for both pregnancy prevention and STI prevention may maximize women's interest in using them.

Keywords:

• Binge drinking
• contraception
• college
• women's health
• pregnancy prevention

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a cooperative agreement between the AAMC, CDC, and VCU, MM-044-02/02 and NIMH K01MH01688. We thank Tawana Olds, M. S. W., Danielle Hughes, and Sally Brocksen, Ph.D. for collecting surveys. We thank the staff of the Virginia Commonwealth University Student Health Services for facilitating survey collection at their site. We thank Kimberly Karanda M. S. W. and JoAnn Bodurtha Ph.D. for assisting in the survey design. We thank Kimberly Karanda M.S.W. for pilot testing recruitment methods. We thank Kristina Hash, Ph.D., Danielle Hughes, and Sally Brocksen, Ph.D. for data management and Sally Brocksen Ph.D. for assistance with data analysis.