ABSTRACT
Objective@#To understand the HIV and syphilis infection and related treatment status of low-fee female sex workers (FSWs) in 3 provinces of China.@*Methods@#Four cross-sectional survey data of low-fee FSWs from six cities (counties) in Guangxi, Yunnan and Hunan Province between October 2012 and July 2015 were obtained from the national science and technology major special project intervention study for reducing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in low-fee FSWs' database, which included social demographic characteristics, sexual service characteristics and related medical care seeking behaviors, etc. A total of 2 050 subjects were included in the database.@*Results@#The age of the subjects was (35.16±9.76) years old, with a minimum age of 15 and a maximum age of 67. Those who use condoms every time in commercial sex accounted for 58.9% (n=1 206). Among the reasons of not using condom, the proportion of client reluctant to use was the highest (81.0% (n=682)). Only 38.1% (n=782) was tested for HIV in the last six months. HIV confirmed positive rate was 6.8% (n=139), previous positive accounts for 76.3% (n=106). Rate of antiviral therapy was 55.4% (n=77). By the end of 2015, the loss rate of antivirus treatment was 18.2% (n=14). Those who self-reported symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases in the last 6 months accounted for 9.4% (n=191). 50.3% (n=96) of reporters chose to go to formal hospitals, 23.0% (n=44) chose to go to private clinics and 20.4% (n=39) chose their own medication. The syphilis infection rate was 13.5% (n=277), among them, 91.3% (n=253) were asymptomatic.@*Conclusion@#Among low-fee FSWs, the rates of HIV and syphilis infection are higher, the condom consistent use rate, HIV antibodies and syphilis test rate are lower. In this group, active seeking medical idea is poor, the rate of anti-virus treatment and the rate of seeking medical treatment in formal medical institutions is low.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To understand the current situation and characteristics of commercial sexual behavior among old male clients in Guangxi, and to explore the associated risk factors of HIV infection.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The areas in Guangxi where more old male HIV cases were reported followed by survey on those male clients who were over 60 years of age, were selected. A total of 5 ml blood sample was collected to test antibodies of HIV and syphilis. Risk factors were calculated by the multivariate logistic analysis method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 1 236 questionnaires were completed in the survey. 65.61% of the old male clients were from low-grade venues with 53.64% of them never using a condom when engaging in commercial sex behavior. 47.33% of them patronized sex workers for around 10 years. 53.32% of them patronized prostitutes not less than 2 times in the last 30 days. Thirty subjects were HIV positive (2.43%) and 40 were syphilis positive (3.24%). Factor as 'having fixed partners' (OR = 0.302, 95% CI:0.140-0.650) appeared protective for the old male clients of HIV infection, with a history of patronizing sex workers from 1 to 5 years (OR = 2.552, 95% CI: 1.086-5.998). Frequency of patronizing sex workers not less than 4 times in the last 30 days (OR = 3.002, 95%CI:1.047-8.607) seemed the high risk factor of HIV infection.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Older-aged male clients showed high HIV and syphilis infection rates in Guangxi, and most of them were using the low-grade venues. Commercial sexual behaviors in the areas would include early and, frequent exposure, but with poor protections. High risk factors of HIV infection might relate to "no fixed sexual partners" and "frequently commercial sexual behavior".</p>