Table 1.
Demographics and oral sex practices of 184 female sex workers in Lima, Peru, and their HPV DNA results in the oral cavity
| All participants (n = 184) |
Oral HPV DNA negative (n = 170) |
Oral HPV DNA positive (n = 14) |
P value* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age in years (95% CI) | 22.9 (22.6–23.2) | 22.9 (22.6–23.2) | 23.1 (22.0–24.1) | 0.19† |
| Mean age at menarche (95% CI) | 13.0 (12.8–13.2) | 12.9 (12.7–13.2) | 13.4 (12.4–14.3) | 0.28† |
| Mean number of years since sexual debut (95% CI) | 7.0 (6.6–7.4) | 7.0 (6.6–7.4) | 6.9 (5.5–8.3) | 0.53† |
| Marital status (%) | ||||
| Single | 115 (62.2) | 108 (63.2) | 7 (50.0) | 0.35 |
| Married | 9 (4.9) | 9 (5.3) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Co-habitating | 53 (28.7) | 46 (26.9) | 7 (50.0) | |
| Separated/divorced | 8 (4.3) | 8 (4.7) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Has non-paying sexual partners (%) | ||||
| Yes | 134 (72.4) | 122 (71.4) | 12 (85.7) | 0.36 |
| No | 51 (27.6) | 49 (28.7) | 2 (14.3) | |
| STI diagnosis in past year‡ (%) | ||||
| Present | 49 (26.5) | 44 (25.7) | 5 (35.7) | 0.42 |
| Absent | 136 (73.5) | 127 (74.3) | 9 (64.3) | |
| Have had oral sex in lifetime (%) | 182 (98.4) | 168 (98.3) | 14 (100.0) | 1.00 |
| Use of condoms for oral sex (%) | ||||
| Never | 3 (1.67) | 3 (1.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0.89 |
| Less than half of the time | 5 (2.8) | 5 (3.0) | 0 (0.0) | |
| Half of the time | 3 (1.7) | 3 (1.8) | 0 (0.0) | |
| More than half of the time | 135 (74.2) | 123 (73.2) | 12 (85.7) | |
| All of the time | 36 (19.8) | 34 (20.2) | 2 (14.3) | |
| Clients expect oral sex (%) | ||||
| Never | 3 (1.7) | 3 (1.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0.16 |
| Sometimes | 45 (24.7) | 42 (25.0) | 3 (21.4) | |
| Half of the time | 20 (11.0) | 19 (11.3) | 1 (7.1) | |
| More than half of the time | 91 (50.0) | 86 (51.2) | 5 (35.7) | |
| All of the time | 23 (12.6) | 18 (10.7) | 5 (35.7) | |
| Mean proportion of protected oral sex with condoms in last month with clients (95% CI) | 95.4 (92.4–98.4) | 95.0 (91.8–98.3) | 99.82 (99.4–100.0) | 0.11† |
| Had oral sex with last client (%) | 135 (74.2) | 125 (74.4) | 10 (71.4) | 0.81 |
| Used condom for oral sex with last client (%) | 128 (94.8) | 119 (95.2) | 9 (90.0) | 0.48 |
| Frequency of oral sex with partners in past month (%) | ||||
| Less than 3 times | 68 (48.2) | 65 (50.8) | 3 (23.1) | 0.06 |
| 3 or more times | 73 (51.8) | 63 (49.2) | 10 (76.9) | |
| Mean proportion of protected oral sex with condoms in last month with partners (95% CI) | 9.5 (4.1–15.0) | 8.1 (2.7–13.5) | 20.0 (24.8–44.8) | 0.12† |
STI = sexually transmitted infection; HPV = human papillomavirus; CI = confidence interval
*
Fisher’s exact test was used or χ2 P value unless otherwise noted
†
Significance calculated with analysis of variance testing
‡
STI diagnoses were limited to viral or bacterial