ArticleHarm reduction journal2015
Pharmacology, physiology and performance: occupational drug use and HIV risk among female entertainment and sex workers in Cambodia.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01835574 (Cambodia Integrated HIV and Drug Prevention Implementation Program), which is not on this map. Cited by 14 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Cambodia Integrated HIV and Drug Prevention Implementation Program
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Observational
- Substance Use and HIV Risk Among African Refugee and Migrant Sex Workers in Italy: A Mixed-Methods Study Informed by Syndemic Theory.AIDS and behavior · 2026Article
- Substance Use and HIV Risk in a Syndemic Context: Vulnerabilities Among African Refugee Sex Workers in Italy.Research square · 2025Article
- Injection drug use in an affluent beachside community in Sydney: An exploratory qualitative study.Drug and alcohol review · 2023Article
- Patterns of and Rationale for the Co-use of Methamphetamine and Opioids: Findings From Qualitative Interviews in New Mexico and Nevada.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Prevalence and Correlates of Active Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Use Among Female Sex Workers in Malaysia.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Joint effects of alcohol and stimulant use disorders on self-reported sexually transmitted infections in a prospective study of Cambodian female entertainment and sex workers.International journal of STD & AIDS · 2021Article
- "We Cannot Avoid Drinking": Alcohol Use among Female Entertainment Workers in Cambodia.Substance use & misuse · 2020Article
- You can't do this job when you are sober: Heroin use among female sex workers and the need for comprehensive drug treatment programming in Kenya.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2019Article
- Methamphetamine-type stimulant use in Lao PDR: qualitative findings from users aged 15-25 years in Vientiane Capital and Vientiane Province.Harm reduction journal · 2018Article
- Preventing Opioid Use Disorders among Fishing Industry Workers.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Article
- Social support and amphetamine-type stimulant use among female sex workers in China.AIDS care · 2017Article
- Behavioral interventions for Cambodian female entertainment and sex workers who use amphetamine-type stimulants.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2016Article
- Harm reduction in Asia and the Pacific: an evolving public health response.Harm reduction journal · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn Cambodia, HIV prevalence among female entertainment and sex workers (FESW) is up to twenty times higher than in the general population. Use of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) has been associated with increased risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in key populations, including FESW. While one in four Cambodian FESW report recent ATS use, little attention has been paid to how the occupational contexts of sex work shape patterns of use. Currently, no HIV prevention interventions target ATS use in this population.
methodsWe conducted in-depth interviews with FESW (n = 30) with the goal of exploring experiences and motivations for ATS use and informing the development of a conditional cash transfer (CCT) intervention designed to reduce ATS use and HIV risk. Interviews were conducted and transcribed in Khmer and translated into English. Interview narratives were read and re-read and emerging themes reviewed and refined to develop an initial coding scheme. Data were formally coded using both open and axial coding to clarify and consolidate initial themes.
resultsThe most common driver of ATS use among FESW was increased functionality. ATS was seen as a performance enhancer, acting as an appetite suppressant and enabling women to meet the physiological demands of sex work, including long working hours, multiple clients and extended sexual transactions. While our results are consistent with studies linking ATS use to heightened sexual risk, via unprotected and/or prolonged sex, for women in the current study, the negative consequences of ATS use were outweighed by perceived functional benefits.
conclusionsFESW in Cambodia harness the pharmacological properties of ATS to meet the physiological demands of sex work in a context of limited economic opportunities. There is an urgent need to both provide Cambodian women with options for income generation that do not risk their health and to better regulate the conditions of sex work to provide safer working environments. Structural and economic interventions, including CCT programmes, combined with awareness and enforcement of sex workers' rights, are also necessary to facilitate harm reduction and occupational health and work safety within the Cambodian sex and entertainment industry.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.