Romans S E, Potter K, Martin J, Herbison P
Dunedin School of Medicine, New Zealand.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2001 Feb;35(1):75-80. doi: 10.1046/j.1440-1614.2001.00857.x.
The objective of this study was to compare the mental and physical health, adult abuse experiences and social networks of female sex workers with data previously collected from two large community samples of age-matched women.
A convenience sample of sex workers were interviewed and completed two well-established questionnaires, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and the Intimate Bond Measure (IBM). Sex workers were invited to reflect on their experiences of their work.
There were no differences in mental health on the GHQ-28 or in self-esteem (measured by an item on the Present State Examination) between the two groups. Neither were there any differences in their assessment of their physical health or the quality of their social networks. Sex workers were less likely to be married and had been exposed to more adult physical and sexual abuse than the comparison group. They were more likely to smoke and to drink heavily when they drank. One-third said that their general practitioner was not aware of their work. A subgroup not working with regular clients or in a massage parlour had higher GHQ-28 scores and may be an at-risk group. Narrative information about the work, particularly its intermittent nature, is presented.
No evidence was found that sex work and increased adult psychiatric morbidity are inevitably associated, although there may be subgroups of workers with particular problems. The illegal and stigmatized nature of sex work are likely to make usual public health strategies more difficult to apply, considerations which should give concern from a preventive health standpoint.
本研究的目的是将女性性工作者的心理健康与身体健康、成年期受虐经历及社交网络，与之前从两个年龄匹配的大型社区女性样本中收集的数据进行比较。
对一个方便样本的性工作者进行访谈，并让她们完成两份成熟的问卷，即一般健康问卷（GHQ - 28）和亲密关系量表（IBM）。邀请性工作者反思她们的工作经历。
两组在GHQ - 28的心理健康方面或自尊（通过现况检查中的一个项目测量）方面没有差异。在对身体健康的评估或社交网络质量方面也没有差异。与对照组相比，性工作者结婚的可能性较小，遭受成年期身体和性虐待的情况更多。她们吸烟的可能性更大，饮酒时酗酒的可能性也更大。三分之一的人表示她们的全科医生不知道她们的工作。一个不与固定客户合作或不在按摩院工作的亚组的GHQ - 28得分更高，可能是一个高危群体。文中呈现了关于工作的叙述性信息，特别是其间歇性特点。
没有发现证据表明性工作与成年期精神疾病发病率增加必然相关，尽管可能存在有特定问题的工作者亚组。性工作的非法性和受污名化性质可能使常规的公共卫生策略更难应用，从预防健康的角度来看，这些因素值得关注。
