OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which workers in the "sex industry" in Edinburgh engage in activities with a high risk of infection with HIV. DESIGN: Cross sectional, single phase survey in which respondents were located by a non-random method ("snowballing"). SETTING: Research project coordinated by the Alcohol Research Group, Edinburgh. SUBJECTS: 205 Sex workers (102 male, 103 female) interviewed between July and December 1988. END POINT: Strategies to reduce risk of AIDS among people who buy and sell sexual services. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Data were elicited by a standardised interview which related to over 300 variables. A fifth of the study group had used drugs intravenously, and one in 12 reported that they had been found to be seropositive on HIV testing. Roughly a quarter of the study group sometimes engaged in unprotected sex with clients for more money, and a similar proportion sometimes did not seek medical advice even if they had genital or anal symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: People who buy and sell sexual services should be priority targets for health education and strategies to reduce their risk of AIDS.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the extent to which workers in the "sex industry" in Edinburgh engage in activities with a high risk of infection with HIV. DESIGN: Cross sectional, single phase survey in which respondents were located by a non-random method ("snowballing"). SETTING: Research project coordinated by the Alcohol Research Group, Edinburgh. SUBJECTS: 205 Sex workers (102 male, 103 female) interviewed between July and December 1988. END POINT: Strategies to reduce risk of AIDS among people who buy and sell sexual services. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Data were elicited by a standardised interview which related to over 300 variables. A fifth of the study group had used drugs intravenously, and one in 12 reported that they had been found to be seropositive on HIV testing. Roughly a quarter of the study group sometimes engaged in unprotected sex with clients for more money, and a similar proportion sometimes did not seek medical advice even if they had genital or anal symptoms. CONCLUSIONS:People who buy and sell sexual services should be priority targets for health education and strategies to reduce their risk of AIDS.
Authors: J Vioque; I Hernández-Aguado; E Fernandez García; M García de la Hera; C Alvarez-Dardet Journal: Sex Transm Infect Date: 1998-08 Impact factor: 3.519