TY - JOUR
T1 - Male sex workers in Moscow, Russia
T2 - A pilot study of demographics, substance use patterns, and prevalence of HIV-1 and sexually transmitted infections
AU - Baral, Stefan
AU - Kizub, Darya
AU - Masenior, Nicole Franck
AU - Peryskina, Alena
AU - Stachowiak, Julie
AU - Stibich, Mark
AU - Moguilny, Vladimir
AU - Beyrer, Chris
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) (R01 DA 15005) of the National Institutes of Health and by a grant from the Fogarty International Center of the NIH (2 D 43 TWOOOO10-18-AITRP).
Funding Information:
Here, we describe a pilot prospective cohort study among 50 MSW recruited in Moscow, Russia in 2005· 2006 and present the first HIV and STI prevalence levels in this population. The city of Moscow was chosen due to its economic and demographic importance, high influx of migrant workers from both Russia and other Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries, and the existence of a prominent yet understudied population of MSW noted by Kelly et al. in 2001. This study was part of a larger National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported effort to characterize HIV and STI risks among women working in the Moscow sex industry (Stachowiak et al., 2005). The project was a collaboration between AIDS Infoshare Russia, a long-standing Russian AIDS service organization which has extensive experience in outreach and recruitment of hard-to-reach populations in Moscow, and research partners at the Johns Hopkins University and the University of California, San Diego. This study was approved by Institutional Review Boards in Baltimore, MD and Moscow, Russia.
PY - 2010/1
Y1 - 2010/1
N2 - The Russian federation has been undergoing a concentrated epidemic of HIV-1 with high rates of infection among injecting drug users. Less is known about the relative risk and contribution to the country's HIV epidemic by other at-risk populations including sex workers and men who have sex with men. The goals of this project were to explore demographic characteristics, substance use patterns, and estimate the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and high-risk behaviors among male sex workers (MSW) in Moscow and to assess the feasibility of prospective cohort recruitment and retention among this population. Research design was a longitudinal study of 50 men with a six-month follow-up period. Participants were recruited through venue-based and snowball sampling methods. Results revealed an HIV prevalence at baseline of 16%; one MSW seroconverted during the follow-up period, yielding an incidence estimate of 4.8/100PY (95%CI 0.0-11.2). Twenty-four percentage were diagnosed with at least one STI: 12% had syphilis; 8% had Human Papilloma Virus (HPV); and 4% had Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV)-2. Three (6%) of the study participants had evidence of previous Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) exposure at baseline. Retention rates were poor with higher retention significantly associated with older men (OR: 13.1, 95% CI 3.3-52.5). This was the first study to evaluate baseline demographics, substance use patterns, and prevalence of infectious disease among MSW in Moscow. Identification and recruitment of this population appears to be feasible, but retention a challenge. While the sample size in the current study was small, the results also suggested that this is a population at considerable high risk for HIV. MSW in Moscow may be an important at-risk population in the Russian HIV epidemic and further research is urgently required to address their needs and explore prevention strategies.
AB - The Russian federation has been undergoing a concentrated epidemic of HIV-1 with high rates of infection among injecting drug users. Less is known about the relative risk and contribution to the country's HIV epidemic by other at-risk populations including sex workers and men who have sex with men. The goals of this project were to explore demographic characteristics, substance use patterns, and estimate the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and high-risk behaviors among male sex workers (MSW) in Moscow and to assess the feasibility of prospective cohort recruitment and retention among this population. Research design was a longitudinal study of 50 men with a six-month follow-up period. Participants were recruited through venue-based and snowball sampling methods. Results revealed an HIV prevalence at baseline of 16%; one MSW seroconverted during the follow-up period, yielding an incidence estimate of 4.8/100PY (95%CI 0.0-11.2). Twenty-four percentage were diagnosed with at least one STI: 12% had syphilis; 8% had Human Papilloma Virus (HPV); and 4% had Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV)-2. Three (6%) of the study participants had evidence of previous Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) exposure at baseline. Retention rates were poor with higher retention significantly associated with older men (OR: 13.1, 95% CI 3.3-52.5). This was the first study to evaluate baseline demographics, substance use patterns, and prevalence of infectious disease among MSW in Moscow. Identification and recruitment of this population appears to be feasible, but retention a challenge. While the sample size in the current study was small, the results also suggested that this is a population at considerable high risk for HIV. MSW in Moscow may be an important at-risk population in the Russian HIV epidemic and further research is urgently required to address their needs and explore prevention strategies.
KW - HIV
KW - MSM
KW - Male sex worker
KW - Moscow
KW - Russia
KW - STI
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U2 - 10.1080/09540120903012551
DO - 10.1080/09540120903012551
M3 - Article
C2 - 20390488
AN - SCOPUS:77949599234
SN - 0954-0121
VL - 22
SP - 112
EP - 118
JO - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
JF - AIDS Care - Psychological and Socio-Medical Aspects of AIDS/HIV
IS - 1
ER -