title: Correlates of HIV infection among street-based and venue-based sex workers in Vietnam.
abstract: Commercial sex work is one of the driving forces of the HIV epidemic across the world. In Vietnam, although female sex workers (FSWs) carry a disproportionate burden of HIV, little is known about the risk profile and associated factors for HIV infection among this population. There is a need for large-scale research to obtain reliable and representative estimates of the measures of association. This study involved secondary data analysis of the 'HIV/STI Integrated Biological and Behavioral Surveillance' study in Vietnam in 2009-2010 to examine the correlates of HIV among FSWs. Data collected from 5298 FSWs, including 2530 street-based sex workers and 2768 venue-based sex workers from 10 provinces in Vietnam, were analyzed using descriptive statistics and bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. HIV prevalence among the overall FSW population was 8.6% (n = 453). However, when stratified by FSW subpopulations, HIV prevalence was 10.6% (n = 267) for street-based sex workers and 6.7% (n = 186) for venue-based sex workers. Factors independently associated with HIV infection in the multivariate analysis, regardless of sex work types, were injecting drug use, high self-perceived HIV risk, and age ≥ 25 years. Additional factors independently associated with HIV risk within each FSW subpopulation included having ever been married among street-based sex workers and inconsistent condom use with clients and having sex partners who injected drugs among venue-based sex workers. Apart from strategies addressing modifiable risk behaviours among all FSWs, targeted strategies to address specific risk behaviours within each FSW subpopulation should be adopted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Thuy Tc
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: FHI 360 Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Quoc C
authors.initials: QC
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.affiliation: FHI 360 Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam.
authors.forename: Ha Tt
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwandt
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, College of Medicine University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada hyun.lim@usask.ca.
authors.forename: Hyun J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055030:Drug Users; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D021841:Safe Sex / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011477:Sex Work; D060386:Sex Workers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012747:Sexual Partners; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014744:Vietnam / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: HIV/AIDS; risk factors; sex workers; street-based sex workers; venue-based sex workers