title: Assessment of risk behaviors for HIV infection among psychiatric inpatients.
abstract: A 13-item questionnaire was constructed to assess risk factors for HIV infection among 476 patients newly admitted over a one-year period to a state psychiatric hospital in New York City. Because psychopathology can affect patients' self-reports, the validity of the instrument was established by HIV antibody tests in a subset of 352 patients. Results of the questionnaire indicated that the 352 patients were almost equally divided between the high-risk and low-risk categories. HIV seroprevalence was .6 percent among the low-risk patients, but 14.4 percent among the high-risk patients. The findings suggest that a screening program to detect HIV-positive patients should be undertaken in this population, that it should be focused on the high-risk subgroup, and that the questionnaire can be used to define that subgroup. However, results of the study may not generalize to other geographic areas.
authors.affiliation: Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY 10962.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Volavka
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Convit
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Douyon
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Evangelista
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Czobor
mesh_terms: D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission*; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D015438:Health Behavior; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009519:New York City; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology