Citation

Apostolopoulos Y, Sönmez S, Shattell M, Kronenfeld J. Nurs. Forum 2012; 47(3): 140-152.

Affiliation

Yorghos Apostolopoulos, PhD, is Associate Professor of Social Epidemiology with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, and Clinical Associate Professor at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; Sevil Sönmez, PhD, is Professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Bryan School of Business and Economics, Greensboro, NC; Mona Shattell, PhD, RN, is Associate Professor of Nursing at DePaul University, Chicago, IL; and Jennie Kronenfeld, PhD, is Professor of Medical Sociology and Health Policy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1744-6198.2012.00272.x

PMID

22861651

Abstract

Background:  Long-haul truckers often engage in risk-laden sexual mixing and drug exchanges with female sex workers while on the road, which increase their vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections/blood borne infections (STI/BBI). Objective:  An ethnoepidemiological study of STI/BBI in trucker-centered populations was conducted at four truckstops in the United States. This article reports findings from an analysis of the female sex worker data, which show how mobility and transience, as well as poverty, homelessness, and exposure to violence, have the potential to exacerbate the occupational health risks of female sex workers. Methods:  Phase 1 involved nonparticipant observation of trucker risk network groups in public and semi-public settings at two Arizona truckstops. Phase 2 was a large-scale ethnoepidemiological study of STI/BBI risk among trucker networks at two Georgia truckstops. Ten sex workers in Phoenix and 29 in Atlanta were interviewed individually or in focus groups. Textual data were analyzed using QSR NVivo 8 and serological data collected from the Georgia sample were analyzed for STIs/HIV. Results:  Infections occur within these populations, where the existence of multiple risks delivered via multiple channels within physical proximity maintains infection and transmission. Conclusions:  Environmental-level interventions, such as better security at truck stops, and individual-level interventions, such as STI/BBI infection education and testing for FSWs and truckers, can contribute to safer settings for truckers, sex workers, and their sex and drug partners.

Language: en