Readiness of female sex workers for HIV testing and its associated factors in Shire Endaselassie town, Tigray, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

• Published in: Journal of public health Vol. 28; no. 3; pp. 285 - 292
• Main Authors: Tsadik, Mache, Tesfahunegn, Afewerki, Gebreyesus, Aregawi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: At risk populations; Confidence intervals; Cross-sectional studies; Epidemiology; Fear; Females; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Medical tests; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original Article; Public Health; Random sampling; Sex; Sex industry; Sexually transmitted diseases; Signs and symptoms; Statistical sampling; STD; Workers; Tigray Ethiopia; Ethiopia; Shire Endaselassie; HIV testing; Female sex workers; Readiness
• ISSN: 2198-1833; 1613-2238
• DOI: 10.1007/s10389-019-01045-9

Aim HIV testing for vulnerable populations such as female sex workers (FSWs) is a critical step to achieve the first 90s proposed by UNAIDS. However, the level of readiness for an HIV test and associated factors among FSWs have been rarely studied in Tigray, though it is a proxy indicator of HIV testing. Thus, this study aimed at assessing the readiness level for an HIV test and associated factors among FSWs. Subjects and methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted and 368 FSWs were recruited using systematic random sampling in Shire Endaselassie from March 2 to 30, 2018. Data were collected via a structured and pretested questionnaire. The data were entered into Epi Info 7 and then exported to SPSS 20 for analysis. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were done with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) at a p -value of less than 5% for the final model. Results The overall readiness level for HIV testing among FSWs was 53.2%. Educational status [adjusted odds ratio, AOR (95% CI) = 1.74 (1.07–2.85)], vulnerability to HIV [AOR (95% CI) = 2.45 (1.38–4.42)], fear of HIV testing [AOR (95% CI) = 0.48 (0.29–0.77)], planning to leave sex work [AOR (95% CI) = 1.79 (1.05–3.08)], fear of quick development of severe signs and symptoms [AOR (95% CI) = 0.53 (0.33–0.86)], being a member of women development groups [AOR (95% CI) = 2.79 (1.74–4.45)], and encountering condom breakage [AOR (95% CI) = 0.43 (0.27–0.68)] were found to be associated with readiness level. Conclusion The readiness level for HIV testing was relatively low. Most of the social and psychosocial issues were found to be factors that influence the readiness level for HIV testing among FSWs. Thus, efforts should be made to develop educational programs that boost the level of awareness and readiness of FSWs for HIV testing.