Thai language skill and HIV counseling among hilltribe people: a hospital-based study in Chiang Rai.
Twenty-nine hilltribe individuals from 6 different ethnic groups were among a group of 70 patients included in an investigation of interactions between HIV-1 virus infection and common tropical illnesses. Approximately half of the hilltribe subjects (14/29) required the aid of an interpreter for HIV counseling because they could neither speak nor understand the Thai language. The 5 HIV seropositive hilltribe individuals were younger than their seronegative counterparts (26 vs 37 years respectively; p < 0.05) and had less need of an interpreter (0% vs 58% respectively; p < 0.05). Inability to speak and understand Thai limits the access of some ethnic minority subjects to HIV counseling, testing and education.
Apisitsaowapa
Y
Y
Department of Retrovirology, U.S. Army Component, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Science (AFRIMS), Bangkok, Thailand.
Prasit
V
V
Jongsakul
K
K
Kantipong
P
P
Watt
G
G
Brown
A E
AE
D000328:Adult; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D012424:Rural Population; D013785:Thailand