ABSTRACT
Introduction: Alcohol drinking and risky sexual practices have become serious public health problem among teenagers and young adults globally, including many developing countries. The available reports are sparse, especially there is a lack of recent and representative data for high school students in developing countries including Ethiopia. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence, identify determinants, and examine the association of alcohol drinking with sexual practices among high school students in Addis Ababa, capital city of Ethiopia. Methods: School based cross sectional study was conducted from November to December 2010. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between students’ background characteristics and alcohol use, and alcohol use and sexual practices. Results: Among 2551 students surveyed, lifetime and current (past month) alcohol drinking was reported by 1166 (45.7%) and 676 (26.5%) students, respectively. Having sexual intercourse at least once in their lifetime was reported by 412 (16.2%) with151 (5.9%) of them being sexually active during a month prior to the survey. Having multiple sexual partners (52.5%), drinking alcohol before sexual intercourse (26.4%), and having sexual intercourse without the use of condom (47.3%) were also common among sexually active students. In adjusted logistic regression model, age (18 and 19 and older), living with 2 parents, getting pocket money, having alcohol drinking friends and attending general secondary school (grade 9-10) were positive predictors of current alcohol drinking. Nergative predictors of current alcohol drinking were being Protestant Christian and living with relatives or siblings. Conclusion: Alcohol drinking before sexual intercourse was a major problem among high school students in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Male gender, older age and higher school grade, friends influence, religious affiliation, living with parents and getting pocket money were significant predictors of current alcohol drinking. Educating about substance use and risky sexual behaviors, engaging students in extracurricular activities and restrict access to alcohol to high school students may help in solution of these problems on a local scale.