Mental health problems and associated factors among female sex-workers seeking for help at the Fountain of Life Center, Pattaya

Abstract

Background: In previous studies, female sex-workers had been shown to have at least a form of emotional distress. However, there is still lack of direct study on mental health problems among this group of women in Thailand.

Objectives: To study mental health problems and their associated factors among female sex-workers were seeking for help at the Fountain of Life Center, Pattaya.

Methods: A total of 222 female sex-workers who came to seek help at the Fountain of Life were recruited and provided their informed consents. Then they were asked to complete 3 questionnaires including:

1) personal information questionnaire;

2) 28 items - general health questionnaire (GHQ-28);

3) personal resource question, PRQ-Part II. Univariate analyses (e.g. t - test and Chi-Square) were used to examine associated factors with mental health problems and logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the predictors of mental health problems among this group of female sex-workers.

Results: This study showed that 9 % of the female sex-workers had mental health problems. Logistic regression analysis revealed that 3 factors were significantly associated with mental health problems namely: frequent alcohols use > 3 times/week (adjusted OR = 4.226, 95%CI = 1.313 – 13.604, P = 0.016), social support score on intimacy domain (adjusted OR = 0.798, 95%CI = 0.649 – 0.980, P = 0.031) and history of psychiatric illness (adjusted OR = 18.852, 95%CI = 3.533 - 100.605, P = 0.001).

Conclusion: The prevalence of mental health problems among the female sex-workers in this study is 9 %, which is surprisingly lower than those in other countries. This study may help mental-health personnel in early identification of women who are at risk and giving them prompt supports.