Content area
Full text
SUMMARY
Objective: The objective of this research was to determine the prevalence of problematic and risky sexual behaviour after alcohol consumption and the correlation between this prevalence and sex, behavioural factors, problematic drinking, and alcohol consumption characteristics.
Methods: A survey of students was carried out at four faculties. Data were gathered via internet and self-administered paper-pencil questionnaires. The analysis employed Pearson's chi-squared test, gross odds ratios and logistic regression to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (OR) and their confidence interval (CI).
Results: Problematic drinking was detected by the CAGE test. Sixteen percent of students reached the CAGE score of 2, which indicates a potential threat of addiction, while 6% of students reached even higher problematic scores (3 or 4). Among those respondents who did drink alcohol, 23% had unprotected sex and 21% had sex which they later regretted. There were some differences between male and female respondents with men reporting more instances of risky behaviour. Among university students, problematic and risky sexual behaviour after alcohol use is associated with sex, the intensity of problematic drinking, first drunkenness, the place of alcohol use, and attitude to alcohol use.
Conclusions: Problematic drinking and risky sexual behaviour after alcohol consumption exist among students and deserve special attention and response in the form of suitable measures. Problematic and risky sexual behaviour after alcohol consumption among university students is associated with behavioural factors and characteristics of alcohol use that allow a targeted approach to preventive efforts.
Key words: alcohol, alcohol-related harm, sex, sexual behaviour, student
INTRODUCTION
According to the WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health, around 139 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), or 5.1% of the global burden of disease and injury, were attributable to alcohol consumption in 2012. Alcohol drinking is generally determined by factors like age, sex and socioeconomic status. While the university student population has a specific social status, it also shows a high prevalence of alcohol consumption as established in the systematic review conducted by Wicki et al. (1) and confirmed in the Czech and Slovak environment by numerous research projects (2-8). The following literature review focuses on the university student population as a subcategory of young adults with a typically higher alcohol consumption (9, 10).
The harmful use of alcohol is a...