Hongmei Yang, MD, PhD¹, Xiaoming Li, PhD¹, Bonita Stanton, MD¹, Xiaoyi Fang, PhD², Danhua Lin³, Hongjie Liu, PhD¹, and Xinguang Chen, MD, PhD¹. (1) Pediatric Prevention Research Center, Wayne State University, 4201 St. Antoinie Street, UHC 6D, Detroit, MI 48201, 313-745-8613, hoyan@med.wayne.edu, (2) Department of Development Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beitaipingzhuang Road, Beijing, 100034, China, (3) Developmental Psychology Beijing Normal University, 100050, Beijing, China

Background: Some types of establishments have served as venues for consumption of sex where commercial sex is illegal. Young women working in such places may be at increased HIV risk. The current study was designed to examine the association of workplace with HIV-related behaviors and perceptions among female migrants, a vulnerable population for HIV infection and transmission. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Beijing and Nanjing, China and a total of 1,543 female migrants working in ten main occupational clusters were interviewed with a self-administered questionnaire. MANCOVA was employed to examine the association between workplace and HIV-related risk. Results: For sexually experienced women (n=666, 43.2%), those working in the “hair salon”, “massage” and “nightclub” were twice risk as those in the “restaurant”, “stall”, “domestic service” or “factory”. About 10% of women in the former establishments reported having sold sex, 30% having multiple sexual partners over lifetime and 40% having unfaithful sexual partners, while consistent condom use rate was less than 15%. They also had higher perceptions of peer risk involvement and personal advantages of risk behaviors, and lower perceptions of severity of HIV infection. For non-sexually experienced women, those in “stall” or “domestic service” tended to perceive higher peer risk involvement, less severity of HIV infection, and less effectiveness of health-promoting activities. Conclusions: The venue pattern suggests workplace is associated with increased HIV risk among female migrant workers. Further studies on social context of their work are needed for directing venue-specific intervention.

Learning Objectives:

• Articulate the working profile of female migrant workers in China;
• Discuss how to present results when categories for comparison are broad;
• Develop a research plan on the social context of their work which may be related to HIV risk.

Keywords: Women and HIV/AIDS, Worksite

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.