Off-street sex workers and their use of genitourinary medicine services.
Our objective was to identify barriers to the use of genitourinary medicine (GUM) services for off-street female sex workers in a provincial city, using self-administered anonymous questionnaires distributed to premises during outreach sessions by a clinic health adviser. Questionnaires were completed by 85 (56%) of the estimated 150 women working in the 13 targeted premises. The main obstacles to service use were the length of time spent in clinic (83%), dislike of needles (28%), difficulty getting to clinic (18%) and dislike of examinations (16%). The majority (71%) rejected sex worker-only sessions. Women using the local service, which provided outreach sessions, were more likely to have disclosed their occupation to the service (82% vs 36%; P=0.035). GUM clinics may optimize their accessibility to sex workers by minimizing the time required per visit, and introducing non-invasive screening methods where possible. Outreach visits by clinic staff may encourage women to disclose their occupation, enabling them to assess vaccinations for hepatitis B.
Bell
G
G
Department of Genitourinary Medicine, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield, UK.
Rogstad
K
K
D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011477:Sex Work; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D019037:Urban Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000600:supply & distribution; D016387:Women's Health