PREVALENCE OF ANAL SEX AMONG HETEROSEXUALS IN CALIFORNIA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER AIDS RISK BEHAVIORS

This paper describes the prevalence of anal sex among heterosexual adu lts in California and investigates the relationship of anal sex to oth er risk behaviors associated with AIDS and STDs. The study consisted o f telephone interviews with a household probability sample of 3,545 Ca lifornia adults undersampling those age 44 and older. Seven percent of the sexually active respondents, 8% of males, and 6% of females repor ted having anal sex at least once a month during the year prior to the survey. Of these, most engage in this activity one to five times per month, and about 60% report never using condoms. Younger respondents a nd those who were not married were more likely to report anal intercou rse. Respondents who had anal sex were more likely to report standard AIDS risks and lifestyle risks associated with STDs, and to engage in recreational use of drugs and alcohol. Both anal sex and condom use du ring anal intercourse were poorly predicted by these demographic and r isk variables. It is concluded that a non-trivial proportion of Califo rnia heterosexual adults engages in anal sex regularly, most without c ondoms, and those who have anal sex are more likely to have other risk behaviors associated with AIDS and STDs. These results suggest that a nal sex must be addressed specifically in clinical and educational pro grams designed to reduce the spread of AIDS.