TY - JOUR
T1 - Female sex work and HIV risks in Croatia
AU - Štulhofer, Aleksandar
AU - Baćak, Valerio
AU - Drglin, Tihana
AU - Puljiz, Mario
AU - Miklin, Marko
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank Iva Jovović, Katja Dragicˇ ević, Sanda Peran, Silvana Sˇ erić Puljiz, Denis Jezˇ dik, Gordan Dimić, and Stjepan Lacković for their assistance in data collection. The study was a part of the research project Behavioral HIV/AIDS Surveillance, supported by the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports.
PY - 2009/11
Y1 - 2009/11
N2 - The aim of this paper was to analyze and compare the prevalence of HIV-related sexual risk taking among Croatian female sex workers (FSW) in two major urban areas. Two groups of FSWs were interviewed in Zagreb (n=65) and Split (n=89). Participants' mean age was 33.3 (SD=8.32). Interviews were conducted by outreach organizations that provide health services to sex workers in the two cities. The study used a brief questionnaire with standardized behavioral and HIV knowledge indicators. The two groups of FSWs differed significantly in most socio-demographic and socio-sexual indicators. Women from the Split sample were somewhat younger (χ2=6.87, p < 0.05), less educated (χ2=7.71, p < 0.05), less likely to be single (χ2=19.81, p < 0.001), and less likely to be unemployed (χ2=5.22, p < 0.05). In addition, they injected drugs in higher proportion (χ2=35.03, p < 0.001), but had less clients in the preceding month (χ2=12.54, p < 0.001) and were less likely to be abused by them (χ2=7.18, p < 0.01). HIV testing was significantly more prevalent among participants in the Split sample (χ2=4.95, p < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, selling sex in Zagreb (OR = 14.48, p < 0.01), having secondary or higher education (OR = 4.76, p < 0.05), ever tested for HIV (OR = 8.34, p < 0.05), and having assessed the risk of getting infected with HIV as high (OR = 0.23, p < 0.05) were significantly associated with consistent condom use with clients in the last month. The findings of this first systematic study on HIV-related risks among FSWs in Croatia point to the need to update targeted intervention programs by improving the prevention of HIV risks associated with injecting drug use (Split) and by a more efficient HIV educational approach.
AB - The aim of this paper was to analyze and compare the prevalence of HIV-related sexual risk taking among Croatian female sex workers (FSW) in two major urban areas. Two groups of FSWs were interviewed in Zagreb (n=65) and Split (n=89). Participants' mean age was 33.3 (SD=8.32). Interviews were conducted by outreach organizations that provide health services to sex workers in the two cities. The study used a brief questionnaire with standardized behavioral and HIV knowledge indicators. The two groups of FSWs differed significantly in most socio-demographic and socio-sexual indicators. Women from the Split sample were somewhat younger (χ2=6.87, p < 0.05), less educated (χ2=7.71, p < 0.05), less likely to be single (χ2=19.81, p < 0.001), and less likely to be unemployed (χ2=5.22, p < 0.05). In addition, they injected drugs in higher proportion (χ2=35.03, p < 0.001), but had less clients in the preceding month (χ2=12.54, p < 0.001) and were less likely to be abused by them (χ2=7.18, p < 0.01). HIV testing was significantly more prevalent among participants in the Split sample (χ2=4.95, p < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, selling sex in Zagreb (OR = 14.48, p < 0.01), having secondary or higher education (OR = 4.76, p < 0.05), ever tested for HIV (OR = 8.34, p < 0.05), and having assessed the risk of getting infected with HIV as high (OR = 0.23, p < 0.05) were significantly associated with consistent condom use with clients in the last month. The findings of this first systematic study on HIV-related risks among FSWs in Croatia point to the need to update targeted intervention programs by improving the prevention of HIV risks associated with injecting drug use (Split) and by a more efficient HIV educational approach.
KW - Condom use
KW - Croatia
KW - HIV
KW - Risk taking
KW - Sex work
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U2 - 10.1080/09540120902862592
DO - 10.1080/09540120902862592
M3 - Article
C2 - 20024722
AN - SCOPUS:77649287220
SN - 0954-0121
VL - 21
SP - 1439
EP - 1446
JO - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
JF - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
IS - 11
ER -