Table 3.
Recent sex work, mental health, and substance at the COPE study baseline (October 2017 – August 2019) among Thai MSM and TGW who exchanged sex in the prior 12 months (n=890).
| Total | Indication of sex work in last 30 days from any question | Indication of sex work from primary or secondary questions | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No (n=460) | Yes (n=430) | Primary (n=270) | Secondary only (n=160) | |||||||||
| n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | p | n | (%) | n | (%) | p | |
| Hazardous alcohol use | 438 | (49) | 193 | (42) | 245 | (57) | <0.001 | 156 | (58) | 89 | (56) | 0.96 |
| Have ever used drugs | 211 | (24) | 79 | (17) | 132 | (31) | <0.001 | 85 | (31) | 47 | (29) | 0.66 |
| Used drugs in last 3 months | 130 | (15) | 44 | (10) | 86 | (20) | <0.001 | 59 | (22) | 27 | (17) | 0.19 |
| Used marijuana in last 3 months | 16 | (2) | 6 | (1) | 10 | (2) | 0.41 | 8 | (3) | 2 | (1) | 0.36 |
| Used poppers (amyl nitrate) in last 3 months | 86 | (10) | 31 | (7) | 55 | (13) | 0.001 | 39 | (14) | 16 | (10) | 0.090 |
| Used cocaine in last 3 months | 6 | (1) | 4 | (1) | 2 | (0) | 0.50 | 2 | (1) | 0 | (0) | 0.53 |
| Used methamphetamines in last 3 months | 52 | (6) | 12 | (3) | 40 | (9) | <0.001 | 25 | (9) | 15 | (9) | 0.99 |
| Used ecstasy in last 3 months | 7 | (1) | 4 | (1) | 3 | (1) | 0.68 | 2 | (1) | 1 | (1) | 0.99 |
| Used Viagra in last 3 months | 45 | (5) | 15 | (3) | 30 | (7) | 0.006 | 20 | (7) | 10 | (6) | 0.58 |
| Injected any drugs in last 3 months | 31 | (4) | 10 | (2) | 21 | (5) | 0.053 | 12 | (4) | 9 | (6) | 0.95 |
| Feeling down, sad or uninterested in life, mean (SD) | 2.55 | (2.32) | 2.46 | (2.32) | 2.64 | (2.31) | 0.24 | 2.69 | (2.22) | 2.58 | (2.47) | 0.64 |
| Feeling anxious or nervous, mean (SD) | 2.81 | (2.23) | 2.78 | (2.16) | 2.83 | (2.30) | 0.89 | 2.82 | (2.17) | 2.86 | (2.52) | 0.76 |
| Feeling stressed, mean (SD) | 3.53 | (2.41) | 3.47 | (2.39) | 3.60 | (2.44) | 0.45 | 3.67 | (2.36) | 3.50 | (2.57) | 0.50 |
| Feeling angry, mean (SD) | 2.48 | (2.11) | 2.46 | (2.14) | 2.50 | (2.08) | 0.92 | 2.52 | (2.02) | 2.47 | (2.17) | 0.99 |
| Not having social support, mean (SD) | 2.53 | (2.50) | 2.38 | (2.41) | 2.69 | (2.58) | 0.071 | 2.74 | (2.56) | 2.62 | (2.62) | 0.76 |
Note: MSM = men who have sex with men; TGW = transgender women. Primary question for sex work: “In the last 30 days, have you sold or traded sex?” Secondary questions for sex work: “In the last 30 days, what were your sources of income?”; “Is transactional sex your primary source of income?”; “In the last 30 days, if you have sold or exchanged sex, where did you meet your partner(s)?”; “In the last 7 days, with how many partners did you have anal sex in exchange for money, drugs or anything else of value?”