Human immunodeficiency virus infection among patients in a gynecology emergency department.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the extent of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection risk factors and the relationship to the clinical diagnosis in women seen in a busy inner-city gynecology emergency department.


METHODS
We performed a cross-sectional survey by offering routine voluntary HIV-1 antibody screening and obtaining HIV risk behavior profiles in 1033 (35%) of 2952 women seeking care in our gynecology emergency department during a 5-week period.


RESULTS
The HIV seroprevalence was 2%. Six (35%) of the infected women reported a history of intravenous drug use, five (29%) reported a history of crack cocaine use, and five (29%) reported no risk factors for infection. Seropositive women were more likely than were seronegative women to have clinical symptoms consistent with pelvic inflammatory disease (18 versus 3%; P < .01).


CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that women attending the gynecology emergency room in our hospital are at substantial risk for HIV infection.
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
M K
MK
Lindsay
J
J
Grant
H B
HB
Peterson
J
J
Risby
H
H
Williams
L
L
Klein
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005831:Genital Diseases, Female / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005845:Georgia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012307:Risk Factors