Knowledge of sex workers about HIV/AIDS and its influence on sexual practices

• Main Authors: Anna Cláudia Freire de Araújo Patrício, Valéria Peixoto Bezerra, Jordana Almeida Nogueira, Maria Adelaide Silva Paredes Moreira, Brígido Vizeu Camargo, Jiovana de Souza Santos
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem
• Series: Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem
• Subjects: HIV; Sex Workers; Knowledge; Sexual Behavior; Community Health Nursing
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-71672019000501311&lng=en&tlng=en

ABSTRACT Objective: assess the knowledge of sex workers about HIV/AIDS and its influence on sexual practices. Method: Ninety women participated in the study. The Scientific Knowledge Test about HIV/AIDS and sexual practices was used. The Wald test was applied to verify the relationship between knowledge and sexual practices with statistical significance of p<0.05. Results: the score of 61.7% of correct answers in all three dimensions stands out; 72.2% have sexual intercourse without a condom in exchange for a large amount of money; 53.3% have sex during the menstrual period; 62.2% have sexual intercourse with drug users; 75.6% have sex with clients showing lesions on the penis or anus. The B coefficient (-0.19) showed that the higher the knowledge about HIV/AIDS, the lower the practice of risky sexual behaviors. Conclusion: the influence of knowledge about HIV/AIDS on sexual practices was not statistically significant, but the sexual practices and insufficient knowledge about prevention, physiological and behavioral attributes were observed.