Prevalence and Correlates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection Among Female Sex Workers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan

In Brief Objectives/Goal: To assess prevalence of and correlates to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among female sex workers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Study Design: Women participating in this cross-sectional study completed a questionnaire and HIV testing between April 2003 and March 2004. Logistic regression analyses determined correlation of variables to HIV infection. Results: Of 448 women, 10% (45) were HIV infected, which was associated with ever injecting drugs (AOR = 20.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.69–53.07), street-based sex work (AOR = 4.52; 95% CI, 1.84–11.12), exchanging sex for drugs (AOR = 4.74; 95% CI, 1.84–12.18), and more sexually transmitted infection treatments in the preceding 3 months (AOR = 2.43; 95% CI, 1.14–5.17). Conclusions: Although injection drug use is the strongest correlate to HIV infection, sexual risk behaviors are independently related and should receive focus in prevention efforts targeted to this population. A study of female sex workers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, found that 10% were human immunodeficiency virus infected, with greatest likelihood of infection among those having injected drugs or exchanging sex for drugs.