HIV infection in a psychiatric hospital - abstract

ABSTRACT

This study sought to identify the characteristics of HIV positive patients in a psychiatric hospital in Trinidad and Tobago. HIV testing is done on patients admitted to the hospital who were at potentially high risk for HIV infections as identified by their behavioural history and clinical examination. Of the patients tested, 6.9 percent were HIV positive. There were no significant gender differences between positive and negative patients but there was an association with age. The highest prevalence was in the 35-44 year age group (9.7 percent) and the 15-24 year age group (8.3 percent). This was statistically significant (p=0.01). East Indians were significantly less likely to be HIV positive (p=0.003) when compared to Africans and those of patients of mixed descent. The prevalence of HIV infection was highest among those patients with a diagnosis of cocaine abuse or dependence (12.4 percent) compared with schizophrenia (3.3 percent), depression (3.9 percent) and dementia (8.1 percent) (p<0.001). These findings illustrate that among psychiatric patients, HIV infection may be associated with cocaine abuse and is more likely to be seen in patients of African and mixed descent. (AU)