Title

Sexual partnership patterns and HIV risks among male migrant market workers from Central Asian countries in Kazakhstan

Presenter

Gaukhar Mergenova

Authors

G. Mergenova¹, A. Terlikbayeva¹, L. Gilbert^1,2, S. Shaw³, S. Primbetova¹, N. El-Bassel^1,2

Institutions

¹Columbia University, Global Health Research Center of Central Asia, Almaty, Kazakhstan, ²Columbia University, School of Social Work, New York, United States, ³Brigham Young University, Social Work, Provo, United States

Background: Globally, risky sexual behavior found to be associated with migration and mobility and contributes to HIV/STIs transmission. We hypothesized that sexual partnership patterns, including:
1) monogamous partnership (MP) - both partners report only one partner;
2) indirect multiple partnerships (IMP) - a person reports one partner, while his partner has many partners;
3) simple multiple partnership (SMP) - a person reports many partners, the later reports one partner;
4) complex multiple partnerships (CMP) - a person reports many partners, who also have multiple partners, would be associated with mobility and HIV/STIs sexual risk (unprotected sex, sex under influence of alcohol, sex with a sex worker) among male migrant workers from the biggest market in Central Asia (CA), Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Methods: We used data of sub-sample (n=830) of sexually active men from a cross-sectional survey with biological data on HIV/STIs (syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea) from the Silk Road Health study among 1,342 male market workers. We used regression analysis (adjusting for age, marital status, income, migration status) to examine the association between sexual partnership patterns, mobility, HIV/STIs sexual risk and prevalence of STIs.
Results: Of the sample, 44.9 % reported being in MP, 1.2% - IMP, 26 % - SMP, 7.11 % - CMP. Mobility was associated with higher likelihood of being in CMP (RR=1.68, 95%CI: 1.04, 2.72, p< 0.05) and with lower probability of being in MP (RR=0.70, 95%CI: 0.59, 0.83, p< 0.001). Being in CMP was associated with higher likelihood of having unprotected sex with a female partner (RR=1.43, 95%CI: 1.17, 1.74, p< 0.001). Commercial sex was associated with higher likelihood of being in CMP (RR=2.25, 95%CI: 1.46, 3.45, p< 0.001) and in SMP (RR=1.88, 95%CI: 1.32, 2.69, p< 0.001). Likelihood of having sex under influence of alcohol was higher among men in CMP (RR=2.19, 95%CI: 1.45, 3.29, p< 0.001) and in SMP (RR=1.88, 95%CI: 1.32, 2.69, p< 0.001), whereas for men in MP, it was lower (RR=0.28, 95%CI: 0.18, 0.43, p< 0.001).
Conclusions: Sexual partnership patterns are characteristics of mobile population that may increase heterosexual transmission of HIV/STIs and must be considered in HIV/STIs prevention approaches among mobile populations in CA.

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