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Social Support and HIV Risks Among Migrant and Non-Migrant Market Workers in Almaty, Kazakhstan

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Abstract

Migration processes are listed within the primary factors facilitating the heterosexual spread of HIV. The study examines the relationship between social support, sexual HIV risk behaviors and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among 1342 male migrant and non-migrant market workers from Barakholka Market in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Results: (1) higher level of perceived social support [Enhancing Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease (ENRICHD) Social Support Instrument (ESSI score)] was associated with a lower likelihood of having sex with a female sex worker (FSW) [OR = 0.952 (0.927, 0.978) p < .001]; (2) higher availability of friends was associated with a higher likelihood of having STIs [OR = 1.244 (1.007, 1.537), p < .05]; (3) larger network size was associated with a higher likelihood of having STIs [OR = 1.201 (1.026, 1.407), p < .05]; (4) loneliness was associated with an increased likelihood of having unprotected sex with any female partner [RR = 1.102 (1.027, 1.182), p < .05]. Results suggest that social support factors should be considered as a component of HIV and STI prevention programs for male migrant workers from Central Asia in Kazakhstan.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Institute of Health, NIMH R01 MH082684 to Dr. Nabila El-Bassel. We would like to thank research staff members who assisted with various stages of the project. Supported in part by a grant from the Fogarty International Center and National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, USA (D43 TW000233).

Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute of Health, NIMH R01 MH082684 to Dr. Nabila El-Bassel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Health Research Center of Central Asia, Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, USA

    Louisa Gilbert & Nabila El-Bassel

  2. Global Health Research Center of Central Asia, Columbia University, Almaty, Kazakhstan

    Gaukhar Mergenova, Assel Terlikbayeva & Sholpan Primbetova

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

    Stacey A. Shaw

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, State University of New York at Albany, Albany, USA

    Lenore Gensburg

Authors
  1. Gaukhar Mergenova
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  2. Stacey A. Shaw
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  3. Assel Terlikbayeva
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  4. Louisa Gilbert
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  6. Sholpan Primbetova
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  7. Nabila El-Bassel
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Correspondence to Gaukhar Mergenova.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants 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.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Mergenova, G., Shaw, S.A., Terlikbayeva, A. et al. Social Support and HIV Risks Among Migrant and Non-Migrant Market Workers in Almaty, Kazakhstan. J Immigrant Minority Health 19, 809–817 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0529-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-016-0529-5

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