Prevalence of HIV,syphilis,and HCV among female sex workers in low-grade entertainment venues in Tianjin city

ObjectiveTo examine prevalences of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)，Treponema pallidum (TP),and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and their associated factors among female sex workers (FSWs) in low-grade entertainment venues in Tianjin city.MethodsWith stratified multistage cluster sampling,two waves of questionnaire survey and serological detection were conducted among 1 377 FSWs recruited from low-grade entertainment venues in 3 districts and county between April to June in 2013 and 2014.ResultsThe average age of the FSWs surveyed was 33.20±8.755 years.Among the FSWs,the awareness of AIDS-related knowledge was 60.7% and the proportion of condom use in every commercial sex during the latest month was 81.4%;the ratio of receiving HIV test during the previous one year was only 27.3%;and the positive rate of HIV,TP,and HCV infection were 0.1%,7.6%,and 1.4%,respectively.The results of binary logistic regression analysis showed that the protective factors of TP infection among the FSWs included Han nationality (odds ratio OR=0.261，P<0.001),using condom in every commercial sex during the latest month (OR=0.491，P=0.002);while being diagnosed with sexually transmitted disease during the previous one year was a risk facotr (OR=8.120，P<0.001).ConclusionThe FSWs in low-grade entertainment venues in Tianjin city had low AIDS-related knowledge and low HIV detection rate,suggesting that the FSWs are at a high risk of HIV infection.