[Living conditions of prostitutes: consequences for the prevention of HIV infection].
Since 1990, several community-based interventions have been set up for populations of prostitutes in France with the principal objective of preventing HIV infection in prostitutes and their sexual partners. Field workers have suggested that extremely precarious living conditions are a major obstacle for the diffusion of prevention messages. A multidisciplinary working group thus set up a study in order to determine which living conditions could affect the adoption of behaviour at low risk for HIV infection. In May 1995, six of the seven teams conducting prevention actions among prostitutes in France used a short standardised questionnaire to collect information including type of housing, health insurance cover, physical aggressions, drug use. It was planned to collect data from all persons attending the drop-in centres. A total of 355 questionnaires were completed (sampling was exhaustive for 3 of the 6 teams). The population comprised women, men and transvestites. The median age was 28 years. Only 39% (135/348) of the subjects had access to health insurance. Approximately 50% (160/324) of the persons lived in precarious accommodation (hotel or no fixed address) and 33% (119/355) had been victims of physical aggressions during the 5 months preceding the study. Transvestites and young people had the most precarious living conditions. Despite the limits of this study due to the difficulty in carrying out a survey in this very marginalised population, the unique information collected may enable community health action strategies to be suitably adapted. In particular, it is important to improve partnership between field workers and existing social and health services, to improve access to better accommodation, health care and physical security while disseminating prevention messages and distributing condoms.
Serre
A
A
Centre Européen pour la Surveillance Epidémiologique du Sida, Saint-Maurice.
Schutz-Samson
M
M
Cabral
C
C
Martin
F
F
Hardy
R
R
DeAquino
O
O
Vinsonneau
P
P
Arnaudies
M
M
Fierro
F
F
Mathieu
L
L
Pryen
S
S
Welzer-Lang
D
D
DeVincenzi
I
I
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003153:Community Health Services; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010348:Patient Care Team; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011477:Sex Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Conditions de vie de personnes prostituées: conséquences sur la prévention de l'infection à VIH.