Prevalence of HIV/STIs and correlates with municipal characteristics among female sex workers in 13 Mexican cities.

Objective: To identify correlates of HIV/STI prevalence among 13 cities with varying sizes of female sex worker (FSW) populations and municipal characteristics in Mexico.

Methods: FSWs underwent interviews and testing for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Logistic regression explored variations in HIV/STI prevalence.

Results: Among FSWs (n=1 092), prevalence across 13 sites was: HIV: 0.4% (range: 0%-1.4%): syphilis: 7.8% (range: 0%-17.2%); chlamydia: 15.3% (range: 5.7%-32.2%); gonorrhea:2.9% (range 0%-13.8%), and any HIV/STI: 23% (range: 9.9%- 46%). Municipalities with high human development scores and a lower municipal marginalization index had higher odds of combined HIV/STI prevalence. After controlling for sitespecific variability in municipal characteristics, greater risk of HIV/STIs was associated with lower education, having a spouse diagnosed or treated for an STI, unaffordability of condoms, and having non-Mexican clients.

Conclusions: Prevalence of HIV/STIs varies across Mexican municipalities indicating the need for surveillance to identify hotspots for targeted resource allocation.