Association between Sociodemographic Factors and Condom Use among Migrant Sex Workers in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand

Abstract

Thailand has the highest HIV burden in the Asia-Pacific region, with the majority of cases occurring in specific populations. Migrant Sex Workers (MSWs) in Thailand are an important population for HIV risk, yet there has been limited literature on this group and their protective sexual behavior. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 396 MSWs 18–49 years old from 23 sex work-identified venues in Chiang Mai. Participants were surveyed on their own sociodemographic information, health behavior, sexual risk behavior, quality of life, and depression. Male respondents were significantly younger than females (p = 0.003). Most respondents were from Myanmar and were ethnic Shan. In the month preceding the survey, 17.0% of MSWs had consistent condom use with regular partners, 53.7% with casual partners, and 87.9% with clients. Condom use was least practiced with regular partners and most practiced with clients (17% and 87.9%, respectively; p < 0.001). There was a significant positive association between condom use and starting high school (χ2 = 8.08, p = 0.018). Education was the only variable that was significantly correlated with condom use with any sexual partner (OR = 0.41; 95%CI 0.20–0.82). Findings of the study indicate that further efforts are needed to promote condom use among migrant sex workers and their sexual partners in Thailand.