Sexual behaviors and seroprevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV among hill tribe youths of Northern Thailand

Sexual behaviors reflect the degree of exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV), especially in people in sexually active stages, such as youths. Hill tribe people have their own cultures, beliefs and lifestyles related to their behaviors, including sexual behaviors, which may lead to HIV, HBV, and HCV infections, especially among youths. The study aimed to examine sexual behaviors and assess the seroprevalence of HIV, HBV, and HCV among hill tribe youths.

A cross-sectional study was conducted. The participants were recruited from 60 randomly selected hill tribe villages in Chiang Rai Province, Thailand. A validated questionnaire and 5 mL blood specimens were used to collect data. Data were collected by a self-reporting method. Rapid immunochromatographic tests were used to detect hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus antibody-I and- II (anti-HIV-1 and -2). Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test were used to detect the associations between variables.

A total of 1325 participants were recruited for the analysis. The majority were females (60.5%) and aged 15–17 years (58.9%). A total of 14.5% smoked, 22.4% drank alcohol, 14.2% were tattooed, and 61.4% had their ears pierced. Among the 30.3% who had sexual experience, 42.0% experienced one-night stands, 26.9% had sexual contact with a prostitute within 1 year prior to the study, 18.9% used alcohol prior to having sexual intercourse, and 15.7% had been tested for HIV/AIDS previously. Among males, 11.5% were males who had sex with males (MSM), and 4.6% were bisexual. Among females, 83.0% were females who had sex with males, and 5.0% were females who had sex with females. Different sexes and tribes were found to have significantly different risk behaviors and sexual behaviors, such as overall males having a greater proportion of sexual experience than females, and Lahu, Akha and Hmong had a higher proportion of sexual experience, having sexual experience with one-night stands, and having sexual experience with a prostitute 1 year prior to the study than others. Among the 836 obtained blood samples, none were positive for anti-HIV-I and -II, 6.4% were positive for anti-HBs, 1.9% were positive for HBsAg, and 0.2% were positive for anti-HCV.

Hill tribe youths in Thailand are at risk of STIs such as HBV and HCV infections according to their risk behaviors and sexual behaviors, which differ between sexes and tribes. Effective behavioral interventions should be promoted among hill tribe youths to minimize the risk for these diseases in the future.