Patterns of Sexual Behavior in Lowland Thai Youth and Ethnic Minorities Attending High School in Rural Chiang Mai, Thailand.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

The rural areas of Northern Thailand are home to a large cultural diversity of ethnic minority groups. Previous studies have shown that young people in rural Thailand have low levels of knowledge on HIV/AIDS and high sexual risks. We compared sexual behaviors between the lowland Thai youth and the youth from ethnic minority groups.

Methods and findings

This is a cross-sectional quantitative study conducted among high-school Thai and ethnic students in Chiang Mai. From a total 1215 participants, 487 (40.1%) were lowland Thai and 728 (59.9%) were from ethnic minorities. Overall, 17.9% of respondents reported "ever had sex." Lowland Thai adolescents were more likely to have ever had sex compared with ethnic minority adolescents (AOR, 1.61; CI, 1.06-2.45; P< 0.01).

SUBMITTER: Aurpibul L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5132398 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature