Denton Callander1, Phillip Read1,2, Garrett Prestage1,3, Victor Minichiello3, Eric P F Chow4,5, David A Lewis6,7, Anna McNulty8, Hammad Ali1, Margaret Hellard9,10, Rebecca Guy1, Basil Donovan1,8. 1. The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 2. Kirketon Road Centre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 3. The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 4. Melbourne Sexual Health Centre, Alfred Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 5. Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 6. Western Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. 7. Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology & Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 8. Sydney Sexual Health Centre, Sydney Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 9. Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. 10. Infectious Disease Unit, Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Although sex work is frequently characterised as a practice with high risk for HIV and other STIs, little is known about the epidemiology of these infections among men who sell sex in Australia. This study reports the prevalence of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, infectious syphilis and HIV among men who have sex with men attending Australian publicly funded sexual health clinics and compares prevalence between sex workers and non-sex workers. METHODS: From 2011 to 2014, de-identified patient data were extracted from 40 sexual health clinics in four Australian jurisdictions. The χ2 and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to compare the prevalence of HIV and STIs among men attending these services who did and did not report sex work in the 12 months prior to consultation. All analyses were restricted to men who reported sex with other men and to each patient's first consultation at participating services. RESULTS: In total, 27 469 gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men attended participating clinics; 443 (1.6%) reported sex work. At first consultation, 18% of sex workers and 17% of non-sex workers were diagnosed with HIV or an STI (p=0.4): 13% of sex workers were newly diagnosed with chlamydia, 15% with gonorrhoea, 0.5% with infectious syphilis and 0.6% with HIV. After controlling for demographic and behavioural factors, sex work was not independently associated with an HIV or STI diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide estimates of HIV and STI prevalence among men who sell sex in Australia and they challenge assumptions of sex work as inherently risky to the sexual health of gay bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.
OBJECTIVES: Although sex work is frequently characterised as a practice with high risk for HIV and other STIs, little is known about the epidemiology of these infections among men who sell sex in Australia. This study reports the prevalence of chlamydia, gonorrhoea, infectious syphilis and HIV among men who have sex with men attending Australian publicly funded sexual health clinics and compares prevalence between sex workers and non-sex workers. METHODS: From 2011 to 2014, de-identified patient data were extracted from 40 sexual health clinics in four Australian jurisdictions. The χ2 and multiple logistic regression analyses were used to compare the prevalence of HIV and STIs among men attending these services who did and did not report sex work in the 12 months prior to consultation. All analyses were restricted to men who reported sex with other men and to each patient's first consultation at participating services. RESULTS: In total, 27 469 gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men attended participating clinics; 443 (1.6%) reported sex work. At first consultation, 18% of sex workers and 17% of non-sex workers were diagnosed with HIV or an STI (p=0.4): 13% of sex workers were newly diagnosed with chlamydia, 15% with gonorrhoea, 0.5% with infectious syphilis and 0.6% with HIV. After controlling for demographic and behavioural factors, sex work was not independently associated with an HIV or STI diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide estimates of HIV and STI prevalence among men who sell sex in Australia and they challenge assumptions of sex work as inherently risky to the sexual health of gay bisexual and other men who have sex with men. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.
Entities:
Keywords:
EPIDEMIOLOGY (CLINICAL); GAY MEN; HIV; PROSTITUTION; SEXUAL HEALTH
Authors: Ofole Mgbako; Su H Park; Denton Callander; Dustin A Brinker; Christopher Kuhner; Adam W Carrico; H Jonathon Rendina; Dustin T Duncan Journal: Int J STD AIDS Date: 2019-05-29 Impact factor: 1.359
Authors: Linda A Selvey; Roanna C Lobo; Kahlia L McCausland; Basil Donovan; Julie Bates; Jonathan Hallett Journal: Front Public Health Date: 2018-06-13
Authors: Denton Callander; Clarissa Moreira; Margaret Hellard; Rebecca Guy; Carol El-Hayek; Jason Asselin; Caroline van Gemert; Lucy Watchirs Smith; Long Nguyen; Wayne Dimech; Douglas Ir Boyle; Basil Donovan; Mark Stoové Journal: JMIR Res Protoc Date: 2018-11-20