Seib Charrlotte, Debattista Joseph, Fischer Jane, Dunne Michael, Najman Jackob M
School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Qld 4059, Australia.
Sex Health. 2009 Mar;6(1):45-50. doi: 10.1071/sh08038.
The risk of sexually transmissible infection (STI) among sex workers and their clients may be higher than the general population. However, many studies have categorised workers or clients into homogenous groups for the purposes of analysis. The aim of the present study was to assess variations in self-reported STI rates among licenced brothel, private and illegal sex workers and their clients.
In 2003, self-report data were collected from female sex workers and their male commercial clients residing in the state of Queensland, Australia. Overall, 247 sex workers (aged 19-57 years) and 185 of their respective clients (aged between 19 and 72 years) completed anonymous questionnaires.
There was little variation in self-reported lifetime STI prevalence of licenced brothel, private and illegal (predominantly street-based) sex workers, although licenced brothel workers were less likely to report ever being diagnosed with gonorrhoea or pubic lice in the past (P = 0.035 and 0.004 respectively). In contrast, clients accessing illegal services reported higher lifetime STI (36.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 20.2-55.6) than men recruited through private sex workers (20.0%, 95% CI 11.4-32.5) and clients from licenced brothels (7.6%, 95% CI 3.7-14.5).
This study found high self-reported lifetime prevalence of infection among sex workers and their clients. It is notable, however, that lower STI rates were reported by clients and sex workers from licenced brothels. This would suggest that risk of infection is not equivalent across industry sectors and highlights some of the inherent risks associated with generalisation across the sex industry.
性工作者及其客户感染性传播感染（STI）的风险可能高于普通人群。然而，许多研究为了分析目的将性工作者或客户归为同类群体。本研究的目的是评估持牌妓院、私人及非法性工作者及其客户自我报告的性传播感染率的差异。
2003年，从居住在澳大利亚昆士兰州的女性性工作者及其男性商业客户中收集自我报告数据。总体而言，247名性工作者（年龄在19至57岁之间）及其185名各自的客户（年龄在19至72岁之间）完成了匿名问卷调查。
持牌妓院、私人及非法（主要是街头）性工作者自我报告的终身性传播感染患病率差异不大，尽管持牌妓院工作者过去被诊断患有淋病或阴虱的可能性较小（分别为P = 0.035和0.004）。相比之下，使用非法服务的客户报告的终身性传播感染率（36.0%，95%置信区间（CI）20.2 - 55.6）高于通过私人妓女招募的男性客户（20.0%，95% CI 11.4 - 32.5）和持牌妓院的客户（7.6%，95% CI 3.7 - 14.5）。
本研究发现性工作者及其客户自我报告的终身感染患病率较高。然而，值得注意的是，持牌妓院的客户和性工作者报告的性传播感染率较低。这表明不同行业部门的感染风险并不相同，并凸显了在整个性产业进行概括时存在的一些固有风险。
