Identifying the psychosocial correlates of condom use by female sex workers in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study examined factors affecting condom use by Hong Kong female sex workers when they have sex with their clients and steady partners. Our respondents consisted of 109 active female sex workers, mainly streetwalkers or sex workers who worked in villas. During a 30-minute interview, respondents were interviewed individually and were asked questions regarding their condom use practice. These questions were designed to measure various factors affecting their condom use practice, including attitudes toward condom use, normative pressure, perceived behavioural control, perceived AIDS risks, past condom use behaviour, and future condom use intentions with respect to the two types of partners. Multiple regression analyses reveal that perceived behavioural control is the most important factor associated with these respondents’ future condom use across the two types of partners. Perceived AIDS risk is the additional predictor for condom use with clients, while normative pressure is the additional predictor for condom use with steady partners. Past condom use behaviour also provided significant additional prediction for both types of partners, implying the habitual nature of condom use among our respondents. These results have significant implications for designing intervention programmes targeting at increasing condom use by female sex workers in Hong Kong.

Acknowledgments

This study is supported by the Hong Kong AIDS Trust Fund. We would like to thank Joyce Hong and Iris Yeung for their assistance in data collection. We would also like to express our gratitude to all the respondents for their participation in this study.