摘要
Background:In an era when HIV transmission has been on the rise among men who have sex with men(MSM),transgender women may play a considerable role in China’s current HIV epidemic as a potential“bridge”of HIV transmission between homosexual and heterosexual populations.We sought to understand the risk behaviours and factors associated with HIV infection among transgender women in two cities in China.Methods:From January to December 2016,we recruited transgender women with the help of community-based organizations(CBOs)through a wide range of methods,including snowball sampling.After recruitment,we asked participants to fill out a structured questionnaire including questions about socio-demographics,sexual behaviours,condom use,substance use and uptake of health care services.HIV infection status was determined by using two different rapid testing reagents.Results:Among 498 subjects enrolled in this study,233 were from Shanghai and 265 were from Tianjin.The median age was 30 years(range:18-68;IQR:24-33).Of them,337(67.7%)preferred feminine dress,13(2.6%)had undergone transsexual operation and 68(13.7%)had used hormones for transition purposes.Nearly half(45.6%)reported having regular partners,and 351(70.5%)had casual partners.Regarding condom use,81.5%reported not always using condoms with stable partners,and 70.9%reported not using condoms with casual partners.Twentyfive(5.0%)had a history of buying sex and fifty-one(10.2%)had a history of selling sex in the past three months.A total of 200(40.2%)participants had used at least one kind of controlled substance in the past six months.The most commonly used substances were amyl nitrates(rush popper)(99.5%)and 5-MeO-DiPT(20.0%).Among rush popper users,170(85.4%)reported always having sex while on the drug,and 177(88.9%)reported increased sexual pleasure after using the drug.The HIV infection risk factors identified in our study were being located in Shanghai(aOR=9.35,95%CI=3.89-22.49),selling sex in the past three months(aOR=3.44,95%CI=1.31-9.01),and substance
基金
This study was funded by M.A.C.AIDS Fund(A-P-15-20660).The funder had no role in study design,data collection and analysis,decision to publish,or preparation of the manuscript.
