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Traumatic Events and HIV Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Migrant and Non-Migrant Male Market Workers in Central Asia

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Abstract

We examined potentially traumatic events (PTEs) and the relationship between PTEs and HIV risk behaviors among male market workers in Kazakhstan, comparing Kazakhstani to external migrants. Using respondent-driven sampling, participants were 1342 male marketplace workers in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Univariate, bivariate, and logistic regressions were conducted. We found high prevalence of PTEs among participants, and significant differences between PTEs and HIV risk by migrant status. Kazakhstanis reporting 1–2 or three-or-more traumatic events were more likely to report engaging in sex trading, compared to Kazakhstanis who reported no PTEs (OR = 3.65, CI 1.20–11.11, p = 0.022; OR = 8.17, 95% CI 2.66–25.09, p = 0.000, respectively). Kazakhstanis who reported three-or-more PTEs were more likely to report unprotected sex (OR = 2.17, CI 2.17–3.89, p = 0.009). Results did not support this relationship among external migrants. Findings underscore the need for attention on services that address trauma and HIV risk among this population and more research to understand differences by migrant status.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Institute of Health, NIMH R01 MH082684 to Dr. Nabila El-Bassel. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Dr. Jiwatram-Negrón acknowledges the partial support received from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (T32-DA007233) and Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Research and Training Center at the University of Michigan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Intervention Group, Global Health Research Center of Central Asia, Global Health and Mental Health Unit of the Social Intervention Group, Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, USA

    Lynn Murphy Michalopoulos

  2. Curtis Center, School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Tina Jiwatram-Negron

  3. Social Intervention Group, Global Health Research Center of Central Asia, Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, NY, USA

    Louisa Gilbert & Nabila El-Bassel

  4. School of Social Work, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA

    Stacey A. Shaw

  5. Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, NY, USA

    Alyssa Brelsford

  6. Social Intervention Group, Global Health Research Center of Central Asia, Columbia University School of Social Work, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Assel Terlikbayeva & Sholpan Primbetova

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  1. Lynn Murphy Michalopoulos
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  2. Tina Jiwatram-Negron
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  3. Louisa Gilbert
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  8. Nabila El-Bassel
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Correspondence to Lynn Murphy Michalopoulos.

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All procedures were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Michalopoulos, L.M., Jiwatram-Negron, T., Gilbert, L. et al. Traumatic Events and HIV Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Migrant and Non-Migrant Male Market Workers in Central Asia. AIDS Behav 22, 3480–3490 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-018-2047-z

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