HIV risk perception and sexual behaviors among female sex workers in Tehran, Iran

An adequate perception of the degree to which one is at risk of having or contracting HIV is necessary for behavioural change and the adoption of safe behaviours. There are limited data regarding HIV risk perceptions among female sex workers in Iran. This study aimed to determine the HIV risk perception status and its association with sexual behaviours among female sex workers in Tehran.

A cross sectional study was conducted among 170 female sex workers in Tehran. Participants were recruited using a combination of snowball, purposeful, and convenience sampling methods. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify adjusted associations between background factors, sexual behaviours, and HIV risk perception. The analysis was conducted by the “logistf” package in the R statistical system. P-value less than .05 was considered as statistically significant.

Among the participants, 122 (77%) reported high HIV risk perception. Most female sex workers with high HIV risk perception reported that they did not consistently use condoms (n=120, 98%. Female sex workers with a higher frequency of sex work (AOR=1.18, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.31), inconsistent condom use (AOR=0.15, 95% CI: 0.02, 0.66),  a history of HIV testing (AOR=5.1, 95% CI: 1.2, 26.0), and low HIV knowledge (AOR=0.97, 95% CI=0.95, 0.996) were more likely to report high HIV risk perception.

Most female sex workers with risky sexual behaviours had a high HIV risk perception. Effective educational programs are suggested to enable female sex workers to correctly assess their own HIV risk and change risk behaviors based on self-assessment of actual risk.