Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic Of Iran

en How Visible is the Sex Work in Iran? Preventive Medicine & Community Health Preventive Medicine & Community Health Original Research Original Research Background: Network Scale-Up (NSU) is a promising tool in the size estimation of stigmatized behaviors. In NSU, participants from the general population describe the frequency of stigmatized behaviors in their network. To avoid underestimation, due to the invisibility of sensitive behaviors, NSU results should be adjusted by the Visibility Factor (VF). This manuscript aims to compare three VF calculation methods in sex work settings: Game of Contact (GC), Social Respect (SR), and Expert Opinion (EO).    Methods: In the GC method, we selected 20 names and asked 60 FSWs (Female Sex workers) (known as egos) the total number of their acquaintances (known as alters) with any of the 20 names, and of those, how many were aware that the ego was an FSW. In the SR method, we asked 600 participants from the general population about the number of FSWs they knew, and to rank their respect for FSWs on a scale of 1 to 5. Finally, we asked 14 experts in the field of HIV and health policy about the visibility rate of sex work in Iran.    Results: Based on EO, VF was as low as 38%. VF in GC was 67% (95% CI: 54%, 80%) for both male and female alters. SR suggested a VF of 77% (58%, 101%), which was higher in male than female respondents (83% vs. 62%).    Conclusion: Different methods provide different VF estimates. For a fair comparison of studies, a concrete and standard method for VF calculation should be applied.   Female Sex Worker, Network Scale Up, Visibility, Iran 1172 1176 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2074-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Azam Rastegari az.rastegari@gmail.com 200319475328460094353 0009-0002-8979-6676 No Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Mohammad Reza Baneshi m.baneshi@uq.edu.au 200319475328460094354 200319475328460094354 Yes Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran Nooshin Zarei nooshin.zarei@ymail.com 200319475328460094355 200319475328460094355 No HIV/AIDS Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Hassan Joulaei joulaei_h@yahoo.com 200319475328460094356 200319475328460094356 No Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran Mohammad Reza Heydari Heydari280@yahoo.com 200319475328460094357 200319475328460094357 No HIV/AIDS Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran