Mental health status among female sex workers in Tabriz, Iran

Female sex workers are a deprived part of Islamic communities. It is necessary for public health policy makers to have knowledge about their mental health status. This study aims to have an evaluation of mental health among female sex workers in Tabriz for the first time in northwest of Iran. In thi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archives of women's mental health 2019-06, Vol.22 (3), p.391-397
Main Authors: Ranjbar, Fateme, Sadeghi-bazargani, Homayoun, Pishgahi, Alireza, Nobari, Ozra, Farahbakhsh, Mostafa, Farhang, Sara, Adlnasab, Ladan, Dareshiri, Shahla
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addictions
Adolescent
Adult
Analysis
Anxiety
Bisexuality
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Health surveys
Humans
Iran - epidemiology
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental depression
Mental disorders
Mental Disorders - epidemiology
Mental health
Mental Health - statistics & numerical data
Middle Aged
Mood
Motivation
Original Article
Personality
Personality disorders
Prostitutes
Psychiatry
Psychological aspects
Psychotherapy
Public health
Sex
Sex industry
Sex Workers - psychology
Sex Workers - statistics & numerical data
Surveys and Questionnaires
Womens health
Workers
Young Adult
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Summary:Female sex workers are a deprived part of Islamic communities. It is necessary for public health policy makers to have knowledge about their mental health status. This study aims to have an evaluation of mental health among female sex workers in Tabriz for the first time in northwest of Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 48 female sex workers who had accepted to be evaluated were included. Sociodemographic and general mental health statuses, using General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), were recorded. Those with GHQ-28 score more than 23/24 in the first session were thoroughly interviewed in a second session in order to find out their specific mental disorder, using Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV axis 1 and 2 Disorders (SCID 1 and 2). This study suggests that 62.5% of female sex workers suffer from a mental health problem which is in accordance with previous studies. Mood and anxiety disorder were two of the most common, and there were also records of personality disorders among participants of this survey. There were also high rates of addiction in female sex workers of this study. Based on findings of this study, high rates of mental disorders such as personality disorders, anxiety disorder, and mood disorder were detected among female sex workers in the northwest of Iran. Financial incentive was reported to be the primary motivation for choosing sex work as a source of income.
ISSN:1434-1816
1435-1102
DOI:10.1007/s00737-018-0907-1