Open AccessExploring the Association Between Depression and Social and Biobehavioral HIV Risk Factors Among Female Sex Workers in Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, South Africa
Author(s) -
Johannes Rossouw,
Sheree Schwartz,
Amrita Rao,
Mfezi Mcingana,
Katherine Young,
Harry Hausler,
Stefan Baral
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
aids research and human retroviruses
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.993
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1931-8405
pISSN - 0889-2229
DOI - 10.1089/aid.2020.0233
Subject(s) - medicine , depression (economics) , syphilis , demography , condom , confidence interval , patient health questionnaire , cross sectional study , gerontology , psychiatry , depressive symptoms , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , anxiety , immunology , economics , macroeconomics , pathology , sociology
The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of depression among female sex workers (FSW) in an urban coastal city in South Africa, and to explore the relationship between depression and HIV-related social and biobehavioral determinants. A cross-sectional respondent-driven sampling study was conducted with FSW ( n = 410), including a sociobehavioral questionnaire, PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9) based assessment of depression, and biological testing for HIV and syphilis. The prevalence of HIV in the sample was 64.1%. The estimated prevalence of depression was 28.8%. Depression was associated with social vulnerability such as living alone [adjusted prevalence ratio 1.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15-2.90] and food insecurity (aPR 2.19, 95% CI 1.42-3.38). A positive syphilis test result (aPR 1.46, 95% CI 1.02-2.09) and self-reported sexually transmitted disease symptoms (aPR 1.78, 95% CI 1.29-2.46) was associated with depression, but self-reported condom use and HIV status was not. FSW were also less likely to disclose their occupational status to health care providers (aPR 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.89) or undergo sexually transmitted infection screening in the last 12 months if they are depressed (aPR 0.64, 95% CI 0.43-0.95). The results demonstrate that the prevalence of depression is high among FSW and that depressive symptoms are associated with social covariates and biobehavioral HIV risk factors.