Efficacy of a brief behavioral intervention to promote condom use among female sex workers in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Thomas L Patterson, Brent Mausbach, Remedios Lozada, Hugo Staines-Orozco, Shirley J Semple, Miguel Fraga-Vallejo, Prisci Orozovich, Daniela Abramovitz, Adela de la Torre, Hortensia Amaro, Gustavo Martinez, Carlos Magis-Rodríguez, Steffanie A Strathdee, Thomas L Patterson, Brent Mausbach, Remedios Lozada, Hugo Staines-Orozco, Shirley J Semple, Miguel Fraga-Vallejo, Prisci Orozovich, Daniela Abramovitz, Adela de la Torre, Hortensia Amaro, Gustavo Martinez, Carlos Magis-Rodríguez, Steffanie A Strathdee
Abstract
Objectives: We examined the efficacy of a brief behavioral intervention to promote condom use among female sex workers in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Methods: We randomized 924 female sex workers 18 years or older without known HIV infection living in Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez who had recently had unprotected sex with clients to a 30-minute behavioral intervention or a didactic control condition. At baseline and 6 months, women underwent interviews and testing for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia.
Results: We observed a 40% decline in cumulative sexually transmitted illness incidence (P = .049) in the intervention group. Incidence density for the intervention versus control groups was 13.8 versus 24.92 per 100 person-years for sexually transmitted illnesses combined (P = .034) and 0 versus 2.01 per 100 person-years for HIV (P < .001). There were concomitant increases in the number and percentage of protected sex acts and decreases in the number of unprotected sex acts with clients (P < .05).
Conclusions: This brief behavioral intervention shows promise in reducing HIV and sexually transmitted illness risk behaviors among female sex workers and may be transferable to other resource-constrained settings.
Source: PubMed