Prevalence of HIV infection and high-risk behavior among seasonal migrant workers in Kurdistan Province

Seasonal migrant workers are among the groups which are exposed to the risk of social harm, including HIV, because of entering into a new environment and staying away from their families. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of HIV and risky behavior among seasonal migrant workers in Kurdistan Province.

This cross-sectional study included 600 seasonal migrant workers in Kurdistan Province from 2018 to 2019. Data about high-risk behavior were collected by using a standard questionnaire. A rapid HIV test was used to detect HIV in the study participants. Using Stata software V14, data were analyzed by chi-square, Mann-Whitney U test, and logistic regression modeling.

We did not find any positive rapid HIV test in the participants, in other words, the prevalence of HIV in the study population was zero. Ninety-two (15.3%) individuals reported a history of drug abuse, among them one (1.1%) had a history of drug injection. One hundred and twenty-one (20.2%) of the individuals had a history of sexual behavior outside marriage. Multivariate analysis showed a significantly higher rate of risky sexual behavior among individuals with a history of drug abuse and single persons (P <0.001).

Although the prevalence of HIV infection among seasonal migrant workers was zero, the history of drug abuse and risky sexual behavior were high among this vulnerable group. Low knowledge about HIV is also a serious cause for concern. Continuous surveillance of risky behavior and administration of interventional programs for this group seems necessary.