RUSSIA (2010): AN ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH BEHAVIORS AND UTILIZATION OF FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES AMONG STREET-BASED SEX WORKERS IN ORENBURG AND ST PETERSBURG. ROUND TWO

This is the second round of a TRaC study conducted among women involved in the provision of commercial sex services or sex workers (SWs) two regions (i.e. Orenburg and St. Petersburg) for the PreventAIDS program in Russia. The research design for this survey round is the same as that followed during TRaC-1 survey to enable comparison of results. The key objective of this study was to collect endline data on HIV related practices and their determinants among Respondents in the cities of Orsk, Orenburg and Saint Petersburg. In addition to this, the study also aimed to provide an assessment of the utilization of the family-planning (FP) component of the program and the determinants of service utilization. This study is a cross sectional survey using cluster sampling where sampling units (congregation places for SWs) were defined by their geographical location and two-hour time intervals. The target population of the study was female sex workers aged 18 and above who work in the 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 using probability proportional to size (PPS). A fixed number of FSWs were randomly selected from each cluster. The average size of a cluster serve d 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 to oversee the field work in all locations.