Sexually transmitted diseases incidence and social factors among female sex workers undergoing health follow-up at the consultorio No.1 ambulatory clinic

Abstract

In view of their high incidence, prevalence and morbimortality, STD are a Public Health issue. The purpose of the present study is to assess the incidence of STD among female sex workers undergoing health follow-up at the Consultorio Nº1 ambulatory clinic and the association between STD and social factors such as the Preventive Social Atmosphere (PSA). The present work is a cross-sectional descriptive prevalence study, consisting of a survey responded by 120 female sex workers, which included open and closed questions (the answers were compared to the information on the clinical file). The STD variables: incidence, age, education ,level of income, and number of children, the behavioral variables such as age at first intercourse, number of sexual partners, condom use, alcohol-drug intake, and both static PSA (peer group perception) and dynamic PSA (what the peer group does and recommends) variables were analyzed by logistic regression.

The STD incidence in the study group was 3,54% per year. The latter related significantly to the following variables: poor static PSA (OR=1.34; 95% CI: 1.13-3.2), poor dynamic PSA (OR=4.80; 95% CI: 1.1-7.63), having children (OR=0.47; 95% CI: -0.35-0.78), living outside Santiago (OR=1.27; 95% CI: 1.11-4.3), working on the street (OR=3.92; 95% CI: 1.19-7.4), low income (OR=0.32; 95% CI: -0.21-0.82), more than three years of sex work (OR=0.32; 95% CI: 0.02- 1.19) and more than one partner (OR=5.45; 95% CI: 0.98-10.5).

The incidence of STD correlated with a poorer static and dynamic PSA, a lower income, shorter time as sex worker, more sex partners. A favorable preventive social atmosphere and other social factors might influence the behavior of sex workers to decrease the incidence of STD. The information herein discussed might contribute to the design of further public health prevention strategies.