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.