Correlates of consistent condom use among female entertainment workers in Shanghai, China: a repeated measures analysis.

Female entertainment workers (FEWs) in China are at increased risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, but correlates of their risky sexual behaviour remain poorly understood. Using data from a series of four surveys, this paper employs repeated measures analysis to identify individual and social correlates of consistent condom use among FEWs in Shanghai. Results reveal that both individual cognitive and social influence factors are statistically significant in their bivariate relationships to consistent condom use with a stable or non-stable partner; only prevention motivation and perceived self-efficacy in condom use remain significant in the multiple regressions. When individual and social correlates are examined together, only peer support for condom use remains a significant and independent correlate of consistent condom use in sex with a non-stable partner. Behavioural intervention is urgently needed and should take a multilevel approach, emphasizing individual prevention motivation and behavioural skills training and promoting peer/social support.