A study of self-esteem and risk behaviors to HIV of inmates in prison with therapeutic community program in Northeastern region of Thailand.

Abstract

Background : Self-esteem is one of the key components for a person to appreciate ones’ own self. The more self-esteem one has, the more one is willing to protect oneself. This study of self-esteem and risky behaviors to infect with HIV of offenders was carried out in a person that had therapeutic community program in the Northeastern region of Thailand.

Objectives : To study the relation between self-esteem and risk behaviors to HIV infection of inmates in a prison that has therapeutic community program in the Northeastern region of Thailand.

Design : A cross - sectional descriptive study.

Setting : In total, 345 subjects were recruited from a prison in the Northeastern part of Thailand. Subjects were prisoners aged between 18 to 60 years old, and sentenced under the Narcotics Act, 2522 B.E. (1979).

Materials and Method : The study is a descriptive research using purposive sampling. Data collected included: personal information, HIV risky behaviors, knowledge about AIDs, self-esteem using questionnaires developed by Coopers Smith. Data analysis was done using Chi-square test, Fisher’s Exact Test, and Independent t-Test.

Results : The samples risky behaviors were: sharing needles for drug injection, or having sharp object to tattoo their bodies; using no condoms during sex, failure to ask their partners to use condom, and no asking for condoms from the prison officers. Moreover, the inmates had no knowledge about HIV transmission. 96.8% of the subjects, believed that living with HIV patient could cause transmission; 14.5% believed that mosquito bite could transmit HIV. Majority of the subjects, 71.9%, had a moderate level of self-esteem (scored 2.61 - 3.33).

Conclusion : Amongs all risky behaviors, sharing needles or sharp objects to tattoo their bodies is the only risky behavior significantly associated with subjects self-esteem (p-value = 0.023).