Russia (2009) HIV/AIDS TRaC Study: An assessment of health behaviors and utilization of family planning services among street-based sex workers in Orenburg and St. Petersburg. Round One.

This is the baseline study of sex workers (SWs) in the two regions of the PreventAIDS programme. At the donor's request the objectives of this study are expanded to provide not only an assessment of key health behaviors but also utilization of family-planning (FP) component (FP services, referrals to FP services) and their determinants among street-based sex workers (SW) in cities of Orenburg and St. Petersburg. This study is a cross sectional survey based on cluster sampling where sampling units (congregation places for SWs) were defined by their geographical location and two-hour time interval. The target population of the study was female sex workers aged 18 and above who lived in cities of Orenburg, Orsk and St. Petersburg. An exhaustive list of clusters was generated for all street locations in each city by NGO partners. Cluster size is the number of sex workers present during peak hours. Clusters for each type of location were selected probability proportional to size (PPS). A fixed number of FSWs were randomly selected from each cluster. The average size of a cluster served as guidance to determine a realistic and feasible fixed number of respondents to select from each cluster. Interviews were conducted by staff of NGO-partners. A structured questionnaire was used. A research agency was hired in bot h locations to oversee the field work.