{"doi":"10.2147/hiv.s468667","title":"Sexual Practices and HIV Prevention Strategies Used by Female Sex Workers in Lagos, Nigeria: An Assessment of the Willingness to Use a Microbicide","abstract":"Background: Female sex workers have a 13-fold higher risk of acquiring HIV than women who do not engage in sex work. The willingness and acceptability of a product is crucial for the development of microbicides. This research aimed to evaluate the sexual practices, existing HIV prevention methods, and willingness to use a microbicide for HIV prevention among female sex workers in Nigeria. We also explored factors that might influence their willingness to use a new microbicide product. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among female sex workers recruited from brothels within Lagos-Nigeria, in which participants were selected via purposive sampling over a period of five-months. An interviewer-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was used to obtain information. Descriptive statistics were used to present the results, and a multiple logistic regression model was used to determine the factors associated with willingness to use a microbicide. Results: A total of 461 female participants with a mean-age of 29.63 ± 8.8 years were included in the analysis of which 34.3% had >4 sexual partners, 91.8% used condoms, 53.6% engaged in anal sex, 69.6% had experienced condom rupture, and 31% would \"accept unprotected sex\" if the male partner refuses to use a condom. Approximately 43% had received PEP, of which only 15% completed the one-month PEP-regimen. On the other hand, 64.6% had taken PrEP medications, of which 28% admitted skipping doses. Although 41% were concerned about male partner acceptance, a total of 95% will be willing to use a microbicide. The number of sexual partners ([aOR] 1.555; 95% Cl 1.035-2.335), use of condoms ([aOR] 4.701; 95% Cl 1.418-15.584), and condom rupture experience ([aOR] 2.550; 95% Cl 1.817-7.959) were associated with greater odds of willingness to use an HIV microbicide. Conclusion: There is a high level of willingness to use a future microbicide among the female commercial sex workers in this study. In addition, majority of the participants will prefer a microbicide product that is female controlled, affordable, and provided as an over-the-counter medication. This cohort of women engage in high-risk sexual practices and play a significant role in HIV prevention efforts. Therefore, their product preferences and concerns should be considered in microbicide development to enhance the acceptability, adherence, and efficacy of future microbicides.","journal":"HIV/AIDS - Research and Palliative Care","year":2025,"id":540254,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":2,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.954,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":301948,"name":"Anandi N. Sheth","orcid":"0000-0002-6305-2727","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":247429,"name":"Margaret O. Ilomuanya","orcid":"0000-0001-8819-1937","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1428070,"name":"Jane Okwuzu","orcid":"0000-0003-2474-0110","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":722904,"name":"Adesola Z. Musa","orcid":"0009-0006-6331-0040","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":443441,"name":"Ifeoma Idigbe","orcid":"0000-0002-7170-326X","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1428409,"name":"Paschal Mbanefo Ezeobi","orcid":null,"position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":503138,"name":"David Oladele","orcid":"0000-0003-1913-8934","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":443444,"name":"Oliver Ezechi","orcid":"0000-0003-0688-3898","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":409968,"name":"Babatunde Lawal Salako","orcid":"0000-0002-0963-7302","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":482312,"name":"Sabdat Ekama","orcid":"0000-0003-4395-419X","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":28,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:52:38.861025Z","pmid":"39911216","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}