HIV-related cases among 2,094 admissions to a psychiatric hospital.
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.
Sacks
M
M
Department of Psychiatry, Payne-Whitney Clinic, New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, New York, USA.
Burton
W
W
Dermatis
H
H
Looser-Ott
S
S
Perry
S
S
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