An instrument to measure safer sex strategies used by male sex workers

Several studies have related safe sex in the commercial sex encounter to th e ability of sex workers to apply specific safer sex strategies. However, n o instrument has been previously available to measure these skills. The Saf er-Sex Strategy Scale (SSS) was developed for such purposes. The psychometr ic properties (reliability and validity) were evaluated with a sample of se x workers recruited from Australian cities. A questionnaire was administere d to 184 sex workers aged 18-58 years using a convenience sampling method. Results indicated that the SSS can be conceptualized as a four variation co nstruct and can be reliably (all subscales yielded at least a Cronbach's al pha = .60) and validly measured. Additionally, the relationship of the SSS to various sex work experiences was explored. The results show that the len gth of time working as a sex worker and contact with sex work organizations and sexual health clinics appear to influence the level of agreement of us ing the safer sex strategies evaluated.