Prevalence, Predictors and Sexual Health Correlates of Heavy Episodic Drinking Among Females of Reproductive Age in Ghana.

BACKGROUND

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) is a harmful pattern of alcohol use associated with sexual health outcomes. Global prevalence of HED is expected to increase from 20% to 23% by 2030, with females more likely to experience its negative health consequences. This study aimed to determine prevalence, predictors and sexual health correlates of HED among females of reproductive age in Ghana.

METHODS

This study employed a cross-sectional study design that relied on a dataset from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, 2022, which consisted of alcohol use history, background characteristics and sexual behaviours and health of 15,014 females. Associations and correlates were identified using chi-square and binary logistic regression analyses, respectively.

RESULTS

Prevalence of HED among the study population was determined to be 2.1%, with age of 40-44 years (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 4.19; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.27, 13.87), smoking of cigarettes daily (AOR = 4.46; 95% CI = 1.00, 19.86) and history of terminated pregnancy (AOR = 1.65; 95% CI = 1.24, 2.20) identified as predictors of HED. Females with three extra-spousal sexual partners (AOR = 6.45; 95% CI = 1.60, 26.10) and females who have had a genital discharge in the last 12 months (AOR = 3.57; 95% CI = 2.19, 5.81) had high odds of engaging in HED.

CONCLUSION

This study found a low prevalence of HED (2.1%) but identified key high-risk subgroups. Risky sexual behaviour and adverse sexual health were strongly associated with HED. Public health strategies should consider integrating alcohol screening into sexual and reproductive health services.