Sexual Behavior of Migrant Workers in Shanghai, China

Rapid urbanization of China has resulted in significant domestic migration. The purpose of the present study was to survey the sexual behavior of migrant workers in Shanghai and determine the risk factors for unprotected sex.

A cross-sectional study of the sexual behavior of 5996 migrant workers was conducted in 7 administrative regions of Shanghai in 2012 from August to October. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.

Five thousand seven hundred seventy two out of the 5996 migrants enrolled into the present study were primarily young adults aged 34.3 ± 10.6 years. 

• Of them, 73.5 % were married, 
• 51.1 % graduated from junior high school, 
• 46.0 % earned 1500–2500 yuan (RMB) monthly. 
• 82.3 % of the migrants engaged in sexual behavior, and 
• 58.0 % did not use condoms in sexual intercourse. 
• 15.2 % had casual extramarital partners within the previous 12 months; 
• among them, 76.2 % never or only occasionally used condoms. 

The results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested that condom use was associated with age, occupation, monthly income, education, and housing conditions. Having temporary sexual partners was significantly associated with several factors such as unmarried, working at domestic, working at wholesale/retail, and male migrants, but not with other factors such as age, monthly income, or education. Having casual extramarital partners was significantly associated with female migrants working at domestic, unmarried male migrants.

Closer attention should be paid to sexual health education among migrant workers, especially women and those working in domestic and wholesale/retail occupations. The use of condoms should be promoted for older (>35 y), low-income, and less-educated individuals.

Below:  Distribution of the survey sites in Shanghai. The blue points are our survey sites. Three curves represent 3 rings of Shanghai city, from the inside out: the inner, the central, and the outer ring, represent the central, surrounding, and suburban joint areas,

Table 2
Sexual behavior (Condom use and casual extramarital partner) in migrant workers
Variable	Total	Condom use				Casual extramarital partner
	(n)	n	%	χ2	P 1	n	%	χ2	P 2
Gender
Male	2472	1040	42.1	6.60	0.01	498	20.1	65.46	<0.01
Female	2278	955	41.9			225	9.9
Age, y
18–34	2276	1164	51.1	29.92	<0.01	370	16.3	2.73	0.10
35–65	2474	799	32.2			353	14.3
Marital status
Married	4007	1528	38.1	2.80	0.10	505	12.6	18.34	<0.01
Unmarried	743	467	62.9			218	29.3
Education
Primary school or below	969	254	26.2	54.59	<0.01	116	12.0	9.66	0.01
Junior high school	2454	1031	42.0			393	16.0
Senior high school or above	1327	710	53.5			214	16.1
Monthly income (RMB: yuan)
< 2500	2552	958	37.5	10.45	<0.01	324	12.7	1.84	0.18
≥ 2500	2198	1037	47.2			399	18.2
Housing
Dormitory	1218	514	42.2	15.57	<0.01	217	17.8	14.57	0.01
Renting with friends	488	276	56.6			118	24.2
Renting with family	2183	799	36.6			232	10.6
Renting alone	626	309	49.4			129	20.6
Self-buying	235	97	41.3			27	11.5
Children (yes/no)
Yes, but not in Shanghai	1970	748	38.0	7.27	0.03	272	13.8	0.70	0.71
Yes, in Shanghai	1853	655	35.3			216	11.7
No children	927	560	60.4			235	25.4
Occupation
Manufacture	2166	950	43.9	56.06	<0.01	340	15.7	55.63	<0.01
Construction	704	266	37.8			117	16.6
Accommodation/catering	298	137	46.0			38	12.8
Domestic service	538	148	27.5			41	7.6
Wholesale/retail	585	178	30.4			51	8.7
Entertainment	459	316	68.8			136	29.6

Dai et al.

Dai et al. BMC Public Health 2015 15:1067   doi:10.1186/s12889-015-2385-y

Full article at: http://goo.gl/NJtSIf

By: Wei Dai^1†, Jian Gao^2†, Jian Gong¹, Xiuping Xia³, Hua Yang¹, Yao Shen¹, Jie Gu¹, Tianhao Wang¹, Yao Liu¹, Jing Zhou¹, Zhiping Shen³, Zhushan Zhu^1* and Zhigang Pan^1*

¹Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China

²Nutrition Department, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China

³Huangdu Community Health Service Center, Jiading, Shanghai, China

  

More at:  https://twitter.com/hiv_insight