Risk factors for sexually transmitted disease amongst men in Harare, Zimbabwe

A cross sectional survey was carried out among adult males attending a municipal polyclinic and two private practitioner surgeries in a Harare high density suburb, in order to identify risk factors for Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD). One hundred and twenty subjects participated, of whom 83 were cases (those with STD in the past six months) and 37 were controls (those with no STD). No association of STD was found with marital status, place of residence of wife, age, level of education or employment. STD was strongly associated with alcohol consumption (Odds Ratio = 7,1 [95 pc CI: 2,8-18,7]). These results strongly suggest that alcohol consumption is an important risk factor for STD. Further work is needed to explore the relationship between alcohol consumption and high risk sexual behaviour, and to test the impact of programmes aimed at targeting the reduction of alcohol use on the transmission of HIV infection.