title: HIV-related cases among 2,094 admissions to a psychiatric hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Admissions to an acute care psychiatric hospital were studied to determine what proportion of admissions were for HIV-related psychiatric disturbances, what evidence exists that the HIV-related admissions constitute a new population of psychiatric inpatients, and whether any psychiatric variables distinguish patients with HIV-related disorders from patients without such disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Charts for 2,094 consecutive admissions to the hospital in a three-year period were reviewed. Chi square analyses and t tests were used to compare various groups of HIV-related admissions and non-HIV-related admissions on sociodemographic characteristics, length of stay, history of psychiatric hospitalization, and other clinical measures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One-hundred and sixty-three admissions (7.8 percent of the total admissions) were judged to be HIV related. The largest category of HIV-related admissions, nearly half, were patients experiencing functional or psychological complications of HIV infection or risk. AIDS-phobic patients, who expressed irrational concerns about infection, accounted for 20.2 percent, and patients with organic manifestations for 18.4 percent. If the AIDS-phobic, HIV-bereaved, and factitious HIV-positive admissions were excluded, the rate of HIV-related admissions was 5.2 percent.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychiatric hospitals can expect a significant but not overwhelming number of HIV-related admissions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Payne-Whitney Clinic, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, New York, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sacks
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Burton
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dermatis
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Looser-Ott
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perry
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000150:complications / Q000635:transmission; D006760:Hospitalization; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010343:Patient Admission; D012725:Sexual Behavior