Knowledge and prevalence of sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in Ahmedabad city.

ABSTRACT

Background & objectives: Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) continue to present major health, social and economic problems especially amongst Female Sex Workers (FSWs). Objectives: 1. To assess the knowledge of STIs among FSWs. 2. To find the prevalence of STIs among them and correlate it with various variable. Study method: A cross sectional study was carried out in the two Targeted Intervention areas working in the Ahmedabad city covering 10% of their total registered population. Results: Total 353 FWSs were covered. The mean age was 32.85+ 7.6 years. Majority was married and either illiterate or educated up to primary standards. Most common symptom of STI known to FSWs was Genital ulcer (67%) and 170 (48%) of FSWs had suffered from STI in last one year, out of them 128(75%) had taken the treatment. Eighty percent FSWs had consistently used condom in last 1 year. Risk of getting STI in 30 to 35 years age group was more than the overall risk (OR>1). The risk of STI was 7.85 times and 2.87 times more amongst the FSWs having duration of sex work < 10 years and those not using condom consistently, respectively. The difference of treatment seeking behavior with duration of sex work and knowledge of STI was highly significant (p<0.001). Conclusions: Knowledge of symptoms of STI was high. Although the condom use was claimed by the respondents still half of them suffered from STIs in last one year.