Characteristics of female sex workers (FSWs) and comparisons between unregistered and registered FSWs recruited from eight provinces, Panama, October 2009–May 2011
| Category | Characteristic | Overall (n=999) | Unregistered (n=379) | Registered (n=620) | p Value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n/total | % | n/total | % | n/total | % | |||
| Sociodemographics | Province | |||||||
| Panama | 455 | 46 | 157 | 41 | 298 | 48 | ||
| Coclé | 64 | 6 | 15 | 4 | 49 | 8 | ||
| Colón | 150 | 15 | 57 | 15 | 93 | 15 | ||
| Chiriquí | 155 | 15 | 66 | 17 | 89 | 14 | ||
| Herrera, Los Santos | 52 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 8 | ||
| Bocas del Toro | 95 | 9 | 65 | 17 | 30 | 5 | ||
| Veraguas | 28 | 3 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 1 | ||
| Age, mean (range) | 29.4 | (18–61) | 29.4 | (18–61) | 29.5 | (18–57) | 0.8193 | |
| 24 or less | 320/999 | 32 | 149/379 | 39 | 171/620 | 28 | ||
| 25–29 | 261/999 | 26 | 69/379 | 18 | 192/620 | 31 | ||
| 30–39 | 271/999 | 27 | 90/379 | 24 | 181/620 | 29 | ||
| 40+ | 139/999 | 14 | 70/379 | 18 | 69/620 | 11 | ||
| Nationality | <0.0001 | |||||||
| Panama | 487/987 | 49 | 338/377 | 89 | 149/610 | 24 | ||
| Colombia | 412/987 | 41 | 12/377 | 3 | 400/610 | 65 | ||
| Dominican Republic | 67/987 | 7 | 19/377 | 5 | 48/610 | 8 | ||
| Other* | 21/987 | 2 | 8/377 | 2 | 13/610 | 2 | ||
| Education | <0.0001 | |||||||
| None or primary school or less | 146/992 | 15 | 58/378 | 15 | 88/614 | 14 | ||
| Incomplete secondary school | 390/992 | 39 | 200/378 | 53 | 190/614 | 31 | ||
| Complete secondary/ technical school or university | 456/992 | 46 | 120/378 | 32 | 336/614 | 54 | ||
| Marital status | 0.0427 | |||||||
| Single | 741/990 | 74 | 268/376 | 71 | 473/614 | 76 | ||
| Other† | 249/990 | 25 | 108/376 | 29 | 141/614 | 23 | ||
| Other dependents | 672/965 | 70 | 205/363 | 56 | 467/602 | 77 | <0.0001 | |
| Mean number of children (range) | 2 | (0–11) | 2.5 | (0–11) | 1.7 | (0–11) | <0.0001 | |
| Median income, USD (IQR) | 485 | (250–800) | 250 | (120–430) | 500 | (350–1000) | <0.0001 | |
| Work location‡ | <0.0001 | |||||||
| Premises | 675/832 | 68 | 140/296 | 37 | 535/536 | 86 | ||
| Street | 157/832 | 16 | 156/296 | 41 | 1/536 | 0 | ||
| Sexual risk behaviour | ||||||||
| Mean age at sexual debut with male, years (range) | 15.9 | (7–27) | 15.6 | (7–25) | 16.1 | (9–27) | 0.0007 | |
| Median number of males, sexual contact in past 6 months (IQR) | 20 | (5–100) | 10 | (4–30) | 40 | (6–180) | <0.0001 | |
| Median number of years worked as sex worker (IQR) | 2 | (0.6–5) | 3 | (1–6) | 1 | (0.5–3) | <0.0001 | |
| Client | ||||||||
| Vaginal sex | 864/895 | 97 | 335/339 | 99 | 529/556 | 95 | 0.0035 | |
| Oral sex | 517/882 | 59 | 177/337 | 53 | 340/545 | 62 | 0.0039 | |
| Anal sex | 130/883 | 15 | 76/339 | 22 | 54/544 | 10 | <0.0001 | |
| Not regular partner | ||||||||
| Vaginal sex | 852/968 | 88 | 327/363 | 90 | 525/602 | 87 | 0.1787 | |
| Oral sex | 504/950 | 53 | 173/363 | 48 | 331/587 | 56 | 0.0088 | |
| Anal sex | 141/935 | 15 | 78/360 | 22 | 63/575 | 11 | <0.0001 | |
| Current regular partner | ||||||||
| Vaginal sex | 502/735 | 68 | 201/282 | 71 | 301/453 | 66 | 0.1711 | |
| Oral sex | 339/697 | 49 | 114/266 | 43 | 225/431 | 52 | 0.0165 | |
| Anal sex | 158/691 | 23 | 79/262 | 30 | 79/429 | 18 | 0.0004 | |
| Alcohol/drug use by regular partner before/during sex, sometimes-always | 158/447 | 35 | 75/188 | 40 | 83/259 | 32 | 0.0008 | |
| Sex during menstruation | 514/991 | 52 | 177/377 | 47 | 337/614 | 55 | 0.0152 | |
| Forced sex | 132/987 | 13 | 62/374 | 17 | 70/613 | 11 | 0.0209 | |
| Sexual contact with an injection drug user | 136/727 | 19 | 67/289 | 23 | 69/438 | 16 | 0.0119 | |
| Sexual contact with male sex workers | 66/955 | 7 | 41/365 | 11 | 25/590 | 4 | <0.0001 | |
| Sex work in another country | 178/890 | 20 | 16/333 | 5 | 162/557 | 29 | <0.0001 | |
| Currently travel to another country for sex work | 76/879 | 9 | 11/331 | 3 | 65/548 | 12 | <0.0001 | |
| Sexual contact ever in another country | 687/967 | 71 | 210/367 | 57 | 477/600 | 80 | <0.0001 | |
| Sexual contact on travel in past 6 months, non regular partner | 127/961 | 13 | 14/363 | 4 | 113/598 | 19 | <0.0001 | |
| Regular client construction worker | 346/999 | 35 | 156/379 | 41 | 190/620 | 31 | 0.0007 | |
| Regular client in military | 79/999 | 8 | 24/379 | 6 | 55/620 | 9 | 0.1491 | |
| Regular client a foreigner | 292/999 | 29 | 101/379 | 27 | 191/620 | 31 | 0.1609 | |
| Health history | ||||||||
| Mean days since ever HIV tested (range) | 211.6 | (1–6496) | 463.7 | (1–6496) | 114.7 | (1–3090) | <0.0001 | |
| Transfusions | 94/968 | 10 | 47/370 | 13 | 47/598 | 8 | 0.0134 | |
| Medications by injections | 637/976 | 65 | 210/367 | 57 | 427/609 | 70 | <0.0001 | |
| Have tattoos | 409/994 | 41 | 174/378 | 48 | 235/616 | 38 | 0.0142 | |
| Have piercings | 204/992 | 21 | 61/377 | 16 | 143/615 | 23 | 0.0075 | |
| Drug use | ||||||||
| Never used drugs | 737/999 | 74 | 257/379 | 68 | 480/620 | 77 | 0.0008 | |
| Used marijuana | 152/999 | 15 | 77/379 | 20 | 75/620 | 12 | 0.0004 | |
| Used cocaine | 93/999 | 9 | 43/379 | 11 | 50/620 | 8 | 0.0833 | |
*Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, USA.
†Married, divorced, widowed, separated, living with someone.
‡‘Premises’ included work locations bar/taberna, discotheque, whorehouse, motel, house/home, saunas/masseuse, gym, public bath, theatres, and night clubs.