Ttt. Nguyen et al., Predictors of visits to commercial sex workers by male attendees at sexually transmitted disease clinics in southern Vietnam, AIDS, 13(6), 1999, pp. 719-725
Objectives: To determine the HIV/sexually transmitted disease (STD) status
of male patients at STD clinics and factors associated with frequent visits
to commercial sex workers (CSW) in southern Vietnam.
Design: Cross-sectional survey.
Methods: Confidential interviews and physical and laboratory evaluation of
804 male patients at STD clinics in two semi-rural provinces in the Mekong
delta.
Results: HIV seroprevalence was 0.5%. The prevalence of urethritis syndrome
was 19.3%, gonorrhea 10.2% (Gram-stain positive) and syphilis 2% (reactive
rapid plasma reagin test). All the men had visited CSW in the past and 58%
had their first sexual experience with a CSW; 73% had visited a CSW in the
last 3 years. Married men were equally as likely as single men to have cas
ual partners or to have visited a CSW. The men recruited CSW more From the
streets (45%) than from brothels (38%). Factors independently associated wi
th visiting a CSW in the last 3 years included being single [odds ratio (OR
), 2.2], age under 20 years (OR, 1.9), having first sexual intercourse with
a CSW (OR, 2.1), not having a current girlfriend (OR, 2.1), using alcohol
before sex (OR, 2.7) and drug use (OR, 1.8). Only 7% of men used condoms co
nsistently; 70% had never used them. Only 37% had used a condom last time t
hey had intercourse with a CSW.
Conclusions: Prevention programs for men in Vietnam, particularly those who
are young or single, need to focus on reducing drug and alcohol consumptio
n and improving condom use with CSWs. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkin
s.