Smoking among female sex workers: prevalence and associated variables

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of smoking and associated variables in female sex workers (FSWs) Methods: This was a quantitative cross-sectional study involving FSWs in the city of Botucatu, Brazil, who completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, including data regarding smoking status, motivational stage of change, and degree of nicotine dependence, as well as the Perceived Stress Scale and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression ScaleResults: We included 83 FSWs. The mean age was 26.8 years. Among the participants, 58 (69.8%) had at least a high school education, only 26 (31.3%) resided in the city of Botucatu, 59 (71.1%) were smokers, 5 (6.0%) were former smokers, 74 (89.2%) regularly consumed alcohol, and 43 (51.8%) used illicit drugs. The majority of the women were classified as having an intermediate stress level, and 51 (61.4%) were classified as having possible or probable anxiety, whereas depression was found to be improbable in 57 (68.7%). The level of nicotine dependence was high among the smokers, the majority of whom showed no intention to quit smoking. Smoking was associated with illicit drug use (p = 0.0271) and with alcohol consumption (p = 0.0001), although not with the levels of stress, anxiety, or depression; nor was the age at smoking initiation associated with the length of time as an FSW (p = 0.4651) Conclusions: The prevalence of smoking among the FSWs evaluated here was much higher than the 8.3% reported for the overall female population of Brazil. Our findings show that FSWs are exposed to various risk factors inherent to their profession. Therefore, harm reduction is an important strategy to be adopted.

Mental health problems among female sex workers in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The pooled prevalence of depression among FSWs from LMICs is 41.8% (95% CI 35.8%–48.0%). Seven studies reported on the prevalence of anxiety among FSWs [ 9 , 32 , 33 , 50 , 58 , 64 , 70 ], with 3 included in the meta-analysis ( Fig 3 ). The pooled prevalence of anxiety among FSWs from LMICs is 21.0% (95% CI 4.8%–58.4%).…”

Grau de dependência à nicotina de pacientes atendidos para tratamento do tabagismo em universidade pública

“…(26) . Neste estudo, a média de cigarros consumidos por dia foi entre 22 e 24, fato este que corrobora com pesquisas nacionais que apontam os mesmos resultados no decorrer das análises estatísticas (26)(27)(28) .…”

“…nicotina elevada e muito elevada, necessitando além de um alto grau de motivação, uma abordagem cognitiva comportamental e também medicamentosa para a cessação do tabagismo (6,14,16,27,29) . Grande parte dos indivíduos tabagistas caracteriza-se pela alta taxa de cigarros consumidos por dia em conjunção com a dependência tanto física, quanto psicológica, fato este, que associado muitas vezes a baixa escolaridade, contribui negativamente para que o grau de dependência relacionada à nicotina seja extremamente alto.…”

The search for individualized smoking cessation therapy

“…In order to make such an epidemiological assessment, the article entitled "Smoking among female sex workers: prevalence and associated variables", 7 published in the current issue of the JBP, focuses on a specific subgroup of the Brazilian population that fits perfectly among the women most vulnerable to addiction. The authors were very happy in their choice of this object of study to describe the characteristics and prevalence of smoking in this population subgroup, a prevalence that was found to be much higher than the mean prevalence reported for the general Brazilian population (71.1% vs. 10.4%).…”

“…In conclusion, it is important to note that, by establishing the behavior of female sex workers regarding tobacco use, the study by Devóglio et al 7 raises a fundamental issue, which is that of structured planning developed specifically to address this highest risk subgroup. Therefore, not only should a cognitive behavioral approach and the use of pharmacotherapy be considered to improve the quality of life of these women but also the use of a harm reduction strategy.…”