Df. Sly et al., THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SUBSTANCE USE, CONDOM USE AND SEXUAL RISK AMONG LOW-INCOME WOMEN, Family planning perspectives, 29(3), 1997, pp. 132-136
Substance use is frequently assumed to be associated with higher level
s of sexual risk-faking and lower levels of condom use. An analysis of
668 black, Hispanic and white low-income women at public health and p
ublic assistance facilities in Miami shows that 19% engaged in risky s
exual behavior over the preceding six months, 24% in substance use and
31% in condom use. Overall, substance users are nearly four and one-h
alf times more likely to take sexual risks than nonusers, but are abou
t half as likely to have relied on condoms. When the probability of co
ndom use is considered in the context of both substance use and sexual
risk, substance users who take sexual risks appear just as likely to
rely on condoms as are nonusers who take sexual risks and those who do
not (odds of 0.43-0.49). However, substance users who do not take sex
ual risks are much less likely to use condoms (odds of 0.15). This pat
tern holds among black, Hispanic and white women, and suggests that pe
rceptions of risk and the risks that partners bring to sexual encounte
rs may be more important determinants of condom use than substance use
per se.