E Corresponding author. Email: a. Hagen β17 were conducted. Participants were interviewed face-to-face and offered rapid HIV and syphilis testing. Survey logistic procedures were used to identify factors associated with HIV and syphilis infection, including modern contraception use, physical violence and having a casual male partner. Weighted data analysis was conducted. Hagen, were enrolled in the study. HIV prevalence was No one variable was associated with HIV in all cities.
Prevalence of syphilis infection was 7. Hagen, respectively. Factors associated with syphilis infection also varied by city and were only significant in Lae. Conclusion : The different factors associated with HIV and syphilis infection in each city highlight the complex HIV and syphilis epidemics among FSW and the importance of conducting surveys in multiple locations and developing local interventions.
Additional keywords: condoms, key populations, Pacific, sexually transmitted infections, violence. HIV prevalence among female sex workers is up to fold higher than that of the general population.
However, the biological and behavioural data on female sex workers in Papua New Guinea, where the practice is illegal, are outdated, 9 and no data have been published for the second and third largest cities in the country Lae and Mt. Our findings show the prevalence and factors associated with HIV and syphilis infection among female sex workers in Papua New Guinea.
Although much attention is afforded to HIV, syphilis infection remains a serious public health concern among female sex workers; syphilis can be transmitted to partners, clients and unborn children and can cause genital ulceration that has been shown to be associated with increased risk of the transmission and acquisition of HIV. Hagen AugustβDecember Respondent-driven sampling is a variant of snowball sampling that can be used to produce sampling weights, compensating for the non-random nature of recruitment.
