Working to prevent HIV/STIs among women in the sex industry in a rural town of Hainan, China.

We evaluated a two-phase HIV/STIs prevention intervention for female sex workers in a resource-limited rural town in Hainan Province, China. The primary intervention strategy, conducted from 1997 to 2000, was a condom promotion campaign conducted through outreach to sex workers. Four serial cross-sectional surveys were carried out before and after the intervention. Over a period of 2 years, reported condom use during the most recent sexual encounter increased from about 50% to more than 70%; and condom use in more than 50% of sexual acts during the past 6 months increased from less than 40% to near 80% of respondents. Controlling for education, ethnicity and age, reading of educational materials (our intervention variable) was a significant contributor to a higher knowledge score, motivation to use condoms, and reported condom use. This study demonstrates that outreach to female sex workers, if appropriately tailored to local settings, can increase condom use in a resource-limited rural area.

[A questionnaire-based survey on attitude and behavior of sex among rural women in Hainan province].

OBJECTIVE: To define the profile and risk factors of sexual attitude and behavior of rural women. METHODS: Using stratified cluster sampling, tape-recorded interviews and face to face interviews were carried out among 606 rural women. RESULTS: 24.6% of the women being studied accepted the idea of "premarital sexual intercourse" and thought "premarital sexual intercourse between a couple" acceptable accounted for 34.2%, 14.7% and 4% of the women reported having had premarital sexual intercourse and premarital induced abortion respectively. 5.0% of the women admitted having had sexual intercourse during menstruation. 4% and 3% of the women under study accepted "extramarital sexual intercourse" and "paid sexual intercourse" if they were in need of money. None of the women reported ever having had extramarital sex or paid sex. The results derived from two different methods did not differ significantly. Logistic rgression suggested that age, education and ethnicity were associated with attitude towards premarital sex, and age was associated with premarital sexual behavior. CONCLUSION: Sex education need to be promoted and targeted among rural population at early age. "Tape-recorded interview" method did not show a better validity in this study.