Gonorrhoea cultures for anal and urethral swab inoculated on modified Thayer-Martin medium at the clinic were transferred to incubators at 36°C in 5% CO2 atmosphere and read at 48 hours and 72 hours. Positive cultures were confirmed using colony morphology, gram stain and oxidase testing.
Urine and anal specimens were frozen (-20°C), batched at the Pasteur Institute and transported to the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp for Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae detection using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (Amplicor NG/CT co-amplification PCR, Roche Diagnostic System, Branchburg, NJ, USA).
DATA ANALYSIS
One "count worker" responsible for counting all MSM at each location and calculating sampling probabilities for each cluster was part of both of the two study teams. Double entry of the questionnaire data was done using SPSS 10.0 (SPPS Inc. Chicago, IL, USA) and compared with data entered into Epi Info 6 (Center for Diseases Control & Prevention, USA). After corrections, files were converted and analyzed, using STATA software (STATA Corporation, College Station, TX). Weighted univariate and bivariate analyses were conducted with STATA. Analysis was adjusting accordingly to account for a second random selection of participants to reach sample size. Confidence intervals (CI) were calculated adjusting for design effects and chi-square for independence (c²) was used to assess differences.
IV Results
The data collection was conducted over a span of four weeks in June 2000 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Behavioral and laboratory results are presented below in the following sections.
IV-1 Sample description / demographic profile
Study participants were selected from 807 males who were observed at the study locations during the data collection time period. Two hundred and six (206) males were enrolled in the study. While the study strove to include as many MSM in Phnom Penh as possible, there were some limitations to the representativeness of the sample. Due to legal and social reasons, MSM who reported being under age 18 were not recruited for the study. However, a considerable number were identified during the mapping. Some locations where MSM could be located were not accessible to the research team such as exclusive entertainment establishments or telephone networks for commercial sex. The refusal rate was 37%, and upon inquiry the study team found that a majority of those men who refused were the clients of male sex workers (MSW).
Respondents ranged in age from 19-42. Overall, respondents had a mean age of 24.4 years. Over one third of participants had a secondary education and less than 10% did not have formal schooling. The mean number of years of education was 6.4 (median 6). Almost all (91.2%) of the respondents were not married.
Table IV-1.1 Demographic profile of study participants: Age, Education and Marital Status
About half of the respondents reported being unemployed at the time of the study. Laborers (15.9%) and street/market vendors (10.6%) were the most commonly reported occupations. About half the men reported earning between 1 and 50 USD per month, and less than 3% did not have any income in the last month. The mean income during the past month was 57.8 USD.
Table IV-1.2 Demographic profile of study participants: Occupation and Income
To assess the mobility of MSM in Phnom Penh (PNP), participants were asked how much time they had spent outside of PNP in the last year. One half said that they had been away from PNP for more than one month, in total, over the last twelve months. Over 40% had lived in Phnom Penh for three years or less, emphasizing the mobile nature of this population.
