Abstract
Objective: To analyze the sociodemographic, consumption and personal factors associated with payment for sexual relations in men who have sex with men (MSM) in three cities of Colombia. Materials and methods: Cross-sectional study based on sampling led by respondents. A total of 1298 MSM over 18 years of age participated in Medellín, Bogotá and Cali. A univariate and bivariate analysis was performed using the chi-square test or Fisher's test when necessary, accompanied by crude prevalence ratios, and for the final model the Poisson distribution with log link, robust estimator was used, and the adjusted prevalence ratios with their respective 95% confidence intervals were reported. Possible theoretically identified confounding factors were controlled. Results: The payment for sex was 13.7% (61) in Medellín, 15.8% (69) in Bogotá and 27.5 % (114) in Cali, and in all three cities, looking for a job, having no education, having no income, consuming illicit substances, having a sexually transmitted infections (STI), living with HIV and being vulnerable to HIV/AIDS increased the probability of being sex workers. Conclusions: Payment for sex is closely associated with structural and personal vulnerability factors, such as unemployment, low educational level, psychoactive substance use, presence of STIs, HIV, and perceived vulnerability to HIV.
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