Mental health and HIV-related high-risk behaviors among female sex workers

Background: psychological problems have significant associations with hiv-related high-risk behaviors among female sex workers (fsws).objectives: the present study aimed to investigate the relationship between mental health and high-risk behaviors among fsws in shiraz,iran.patients and methods: this cross-sectional study,conducted from october 2011 to may 2012,used a convenience sampling method to recruit 125 fsws and 125 control women. after providing informed consent,each participant completed a validated questionnaire (scl-90-r and high-risk behaviors).results: in comparison to the control group,the mean age at first sexual relationship was lower among sex workers,and most of them (80.4%) had not used condoms in their most recent sexual intercourse. the mean scores on all subscales of the scl-90-r were lower in the control group (p < 0.003),whereas psychological symptoms were significantly more prevalent among fsws. a significant inverse relationship was found between global severity indexes (gsr) scores and use of condom in the most recent sexual intercourse.conclusions: considering the association of high-risk behaviors with lower mental health among fsw,psychological interventions are needed in order to prevent high-risk behaviors and hiv transmission. © 2014,shiraz university of medical sciences.