A Cross-Sectional Study on Selected Correlates of High risk Sexual Behavior in Polish Migrants Resident in the United Kingdom

Objective: To assess the correlates of the high risk sexual behaviors of Polish migrants in the United Kingdom (UK) after 2004, and to compare such behaviors before/after immigration. Methods: In 2013, a cross-sectional study was conducted through the use of a Computer-assisted web interviewing surv...

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Autores principales: Ganczak, Maria, Czubińska, Grażyna, Korzeń, Marcin, Szych, Zbigniew
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409623/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28420115
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040422
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author Ganczak, Maria
Czubińska, Grażyna
Korzeń, Marcin
Szych, Zbigniew
author_facet Ganczak, Maria
Czubińska, Grażyna
Korzeń, Marcin
Szych, Zbigniew
author_sort Ganczak, Maria
collection PubMed
description Objective: To assess the correlates of the high risk sexual behaviors of Polish migrants in the United Kingdom (UK) after 2004, and to compare such behaviors before/after immigration. Methods: In 2013, a cross-sectional study was conducted through the use of a Computer-assisted web interviewing surveying technique with the use of a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Among 408 respondents (56.9% women), with a median age of 32 years, significantly more admitted to having unprotected sexual contact with a casual partner while in the UK (p < 0.0001) than while in Poland; more were engaged in sex after the use of recreational drugs and alcohol (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.001 respectively). Being a male was associated with greater odds of unprotected sex, sex after the use of alcohol, and having multiple partners. Being single and having only been a resident for a short time in the UK, presenting a lower self-esteem, were predictors of unprotected sex. A total of 19.6% of the respondents admitted to having been tested while in Poland, a lower (p < 0.0001) frequency than while in the UK (49.5%); this referred to both genders; 1.2% (95% CI: 0.79–2.83%) reported that they were HIV positive. Conclusions: Migration can create a vulnerability to STIs, especially for single male migrants with low self-esteem, staying in the UK for less than two years. The results point to strengthening strategies which help reduce high risk sexual behavior among Polish migrants, and to introduce interventions to promote an awareness of HIV sero-status.
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spelling pubmed-54096232017-05-03 A Cross-Sectional Study on Selected Correlates of High risk Sexual Behavior in Polish Migrants Resident in the United Kingdom Ganczak, Maria Czubińska, Grażyna Korzeń, Marcin Szych, Zbigniew Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Objective: To assess the correlates of the high risk sexual behaviors of Polish migrants in the United Kingdom (UK) after 2004, and to compare such behaviors before/after immigration. Methods: In 2013, a cross-sectional study was conducted through the use of a Computer-assisted web interviewing surveying technique with the use of a self-administered questionnaire. Results: Among 408 respondents (56.9% women), with a median age of 32 years, significantly more admitted to having unprotected sexual contact with a casual partner while in the UK (p < 0.0001) than while in Poland; more were engaged in sex after the use of recreational drugs and alcohol (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.001 respectively). Being a male was associated with greater odds of unprotected sex, sex after the use of alcohol, and having multiple partners. Being single and having only been a resident for a short time in the UK, presenting a lower self-esteem, were predictors of unprotected sex. A total of 19.6% of the respondents admitted to having been tested while in Poland, a lower (p < 0.0001) frequency than while in the UK (49.5%); this referred to both genders; 1.2% (95% CI: 0.79–2.83%) reported that they were HIV positive. Conclusions: Migration can create a vulnerability to STIs, especially for single male migrants with low self-esteem, staying in the UK for less than two years. The results point to strengthening strategies which help reduce high risk sexual behavior among Polish migrants, and to introduce interventions to promote an awareness of HIV sero-status. MDPI 2017-04-14 2017-04 /pmc/articles/PMC5409623/ /pubmed/28420115 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040422 Text en © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Ganczak, Maria
Czubińska, Grażyna
Korzeń, Marcin
Szych, Zbigniew
A Cross-Sectional Study on Selected Correlates of High risk Sexual Behavior in Polish Migrants Resident in the United Kingdom
title A Cross-Sectional Study on Selected Correlates of High risk Sexual Behavior in Polish Migrants Resident in the United Kingdom
title_full A Cross-Sectional Study on Selected Correlates of High risk Sexual Behavior in Polish Migrants Resident in the United Kingdom
title_fullStr A Cross-Sectional Study on Selected Correlates of High risk Sexual Behavior in Polish Migrants Resident in the United Kingdom
title_full_unstemmed A Cross-Sectional Study on Selected Correlates of High risk Sexual Behavior in Polish Migrants Resident in the United Kingdom
title_short A Cross-Sectional Study on Selected Correlates of High risk Sexual Behavior in Polish Migrants Resident in the United Kingdom
title_sort cross-sectional study on selected correlates of high risk sexual behavior in polish migrants resident in the united kingdom
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409623/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28420115
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14040422
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