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Difference in Risk Behaviors and STD Prevalence Between Street-Based and Establishment-Based FSWs in Guangdong Province, China

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Abstract

The major mode of HIV/AIDS transmission in China is now heterosexual activities, but risk for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) may differ among different strata of female sex workers (FSWs). Respondent-driven sampling was used to recruit 320 FSWs in Guangdong Province, China. The respondents were interviewed using a structured questionnaire, and tested for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia. The street-based FSWs had lower education levels, a higher proportion supporting their families, charged less for their services, and had engaged in commercial sex for a longer period of time than establishment-based FSWs. The proportion consistently using condoms with clients and with regular non-paying partners was also lower. The prevalence of syphilis, gonorrhea, and Chlamydia was higher among street-based sex workers. Being a street-based sex worker, having regular non-paying sex partners, and having non-regular non-paying partners were independent risk factors for inconsistent condom. Street-based FSWs had more risk behaviors than establishment-based FSWs, and should therefore be specifically targeted for HIV as well as STD intervention programs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Zunyou Wu, Feng Deng, Ruiheng Xu and Yurun Zhang, for their valuable support. We are grateful to the staff of the Institute of HIV/AIDS Control and Prevention, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the staff of the Zhaoqing Dermatology and STD Hospital and Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Zhaoqing Prefecture for their contributions to the conduct of the study, and to Wendy Aft for assisting in the preparation of this manuscript. This study was supported by NIH Fogarty International Center training grant D43 TW000013.

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Correspondence to Roger Detels.

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Li, Y., Detels, R., Lin, P. et al. Difference in Risk Behaviors and STD Prevalence Between Street-Based and Establishment-Based FSWs in Guangdong Province, China. AIDS Behav 16, 943–951 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-011-0102-0

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