Table 1.
Demographic and sex work characteristics among study participants
| Vinh Long (n=400) | Ben Tre (n=400) | Tien Giang (n=400) | Hau Giang (n=399) | Kien Giang (n=399) | Total (n=1,998) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
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| Demographic characteristics | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | p |
| Education | |||||||
| Elementary school | 153 (38.3) | 177 (44.4) | 203 (50.8) | 206 (51.5) | 208 (52.1) | 947 (47.4) | <0.01 |
| Secondary school | 247 (61.8) | 222 (55.6) | 197 (49.3) | 194 (48.5) | 191 (47.9) | 1,051 (52.6) | |
| Resident status | |||||||
| Living alone | 110 (27.5) | 93 (23.3) | 73 (18.3) | 64 (16.2) | 107 (26.8) | 447 (22.4) | <0.01 |
| Living with family or friend(s) | 281 (70.3) | 300 (75.0) | 325 (81.5) | 326 (82.3) | 291 (72.9) | 1,523 (76.4) | |
| Unstable | 9 (2.3) | 7 (1.8) | 1 (0.3) | 6 (1.5) | 1 (0.3) | 24 (1.2) | |
| Marital status | |||||||
| Single | 275 (68.8) | 88 (22.0) | 132 (33.0) | 206 (51.5) | 234 (58.7) | 935 (46.8) | <0.01 |
| Married or live with partners | 47 (11.8) | 101 (25.3) | 66 (16.5) | 45 (11.3) | 25 (6.3) | 284 (14.2) | |
| Divorced, separated, or widowed | 78 (19.5) | 211 (52.8) | 202 (50.5) | 149 (37.3) | 140 (35.1) | 780 (39.0) | |
| Mean (sd) | Mean (sd) | Mean (sd) | Mean (sd) | Mean (sd) | Mean (sd) | ||
| Age (years) | 23.9 (4.7) | 30.0 (6.5) | 28.2 (8.4) | 25.9 (6.1) | 24.6 (5.5) | 26.5 (6.8) | <0.01 |
| Sex work characteristics | |||||||
| Age at first sex intercourse | 18.1 (1.8) | 19.0 (2.2) | 18.8 (2.8) | 19.5 (2.1) | 18.3 (1.6) | 18.7 (2.2) | <0.01 |
| Age at first selling sex | 21.0 (3.6) | 26.8 (6.0) | 25.0 (7.3) | 23.5 (5.2) | 22.7 (4.5) | 23.8 (5.8) | <0.01 |
| Length of selling sex (years) | 2.9 (2.8) | 3.2 (3.4) | 3.2 (4.1) | 2.3 (2.2) | 1.9 (2.3) | 2.7 (3.1) | <0.01 |
| Number of clients last month | 18.6 (13.7) | 11.9 (6.5) | 11.6 (8.5) | 15 (11.5) | 11 (7.6) | 13.6 (10.3) | <0.01 |
| Type of sex work | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | |
| Street-based sex workers | 58 (14.5) | 158 (39.5) | 67 (16.9) | 37 (9.3) | 19 (4.8) | 339 (17.0) | <0.01 |
| Entertainment-based sex workers | 342 (85.5) | 242 (60.5) | 330 (83.1) | 363 (90.8) | 380 (95.2) | 1,657 (83.0) | |
| Selling sex in other places | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | |
| In other province(s) | 125 (31.3) | 95 (23.8) | 64 (16.1) | 112 (28.1) | 93 (23.3) | 489 (24.5) | <0.01 |
| Overseas | 6 (4.8) | 1 (1.1) | 2 (3.3) | 8 (7.2) | 4 (4.3) | 21 (4.3) | 0.30 |