Objective To profile the sexually transmitted diseases (STD) testing behaviors of female entertainment workers (FEWs) in Changning District of Shanghai and study its influencing factors.
Methods After investigation, 2 large-scale (with more than 50 FEWs) and 28 small-scale (with less than 10 FEWs) entertainment venues in Changning District of Shanghai were selected, for this project required the proportion of interviewees from large and small venues should be around 3:7. Then a face-to-face survey was conducted among 125 FEWs there who were involved in sexual services with informed consent signed.
Results The majority of these interviewees were in young age. Although 55.2% of them earned more than 5000 Yuan per month, they still had heavy burden because they had to financially support (2.06& #177;1.39) persons on average. They provided sexual services quite often, (12.71& #177;8.90) times per week on average. In the past one month, 33.6% interviewees had STD related complaints, and the rate of STD related complaints were statistically different between large and small venues (P < 0.05). More interviewees with STD complaints in the higher income group had STD checks than those in the lower income group. In respect of seeking medical advice, 74.4% interviewees thought they had no medical needs at the moment, and general hospitals were the most popular one when they had such needs. The study found that the more frequently sexual services they provided and the higher income they earned, the higher rate of STD checks they would have.
Conclusion The rate of STD checks among FEWs are still low, and the main influencing factors of which are the number of clients and income. Their awareness of seeking STD checks and advice needs to be raised.
DownLoad: