Alcohol consumption and unsafe sex: a comparison of heterosexuals and homosexual men.

Recent studies have suggested that drinking in conjunction with sexual activity is related to unsafe sexual activities known to increase the risk of AIDS transmission. However, these studies have used general measures of frequency of both drinking and sexual behavior, giving insufficient information to establish that drinking and risky sex occur in the same sexual encounters. This article presents data from a mail survey of the adult population of San Francisco in which respondents were queried about the circumstances of specific sexual encounters that took place in conjunction with alcohol consumption. The results showed that subjective intoxication was related to practice of unsafe sex among homosexual men and heterosexual women but not among heterosexual men. In addition, respondents whose sexual partners were met in locations construed as "pickup" environments were more likely to practice safe sex. A focus on specific sexual events can contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of sexual encounters and of the predictors of risky sex in these encounters.