Table 1 Demographic characteristics of ST FSWs and LT FSWs
Variables | Total (N = 1667, %) | ST FSWs (N = 586, %) | LT FSWs (N = 1081, %) | Χ2/t | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Current age (years) | 12.7a | < 0.001 | |||
 Median (IQR) | 1667 (100%) | 30 (24, 38) | 39 (31, 45) |  |  |
Marital status | 78.115 | < 0.001 | |||
 Unmarried/divorced/widowed | 456 (27.4) | 199 (34.0) | 257 (24.0) |  |  |
 Married/Cohabiting | 1211 (72.6) | 387 (66.0) | 824 (76.0) |  |  |
Nationality | 151.545 | < 0.001 | |||
 Chinese | 1021 (61.3) | 242 (41.30) | 779 (72.1) |  |  |
 Vietnamese | 646 (38.7) | 344 (58.70) | 302 (27.9) |  |  |
Years of education | 116.562 | < 0.001 | |||
 ≤ 9 | 1494 (89.6) | 461 (78.7) | 1033 (95.6) |  |  |
 > 9 | 173 (10.4) | 125 (21.3) | 48 (4.4) |  |  |
Types of working venues | 124.326 | < 0.001 | |||
 Low-level | 974 (58.4) | 236 (40.2) | 738 (68.3) |  |  |
 Medium-level | 626 (37.6) | 321 (54.8) | 305 (28.2) |  |  |
 High-level | 67 (4.0) | 29 (5.0) | 38 (3.5) |  |  |
Total duration of sex work (months) | |||||
 Median (IQR) | 1667 (100%) | 16 (4, 37) | 48 (24, 72) | 14.173a | < 0.001 |
The level of HIV-related knowledge | 20.246 | < 0.001 | |||
 High-level | 1558 (93.5) | 526 (89.8) | 1032 (95.5) |  |  |
 Low-level | 109 (6.5) | 60 (10.2) | 49 (4.5) |  |  |
Age when they first engaged in commercial sex work (years) | 31.830 | < 0.001 | |||
 < 18 | 42 (2.5) | 32 (5.5) | 10 (0.9) |  |  |
 ≥ 18 | 1625 (97.5) | 554 (94.5) | 1071 (99.1) |  |  |
Average charge per sex transaction (RMB) | 0.984 | 0.325 | |||
 Median (IQR) | 1667 (100%) | 100 (80, 100) | 100 (80, 120) |  |  |
HIV status | 0.014 | 0.905 | |||
 HIV-seronegative | 1645 (98.7) | 578 (98.6) | 1067 (98.7) |  |  |
 HIV-seropositive | 22 (1.3) | 8 (1.4) | 14 (1.3) |  |  |