Prevalence of HIV infection in psychiatric patients attending a general hospital in Tamil Nadu, south India.
An anonymous, unlinked study was conducted to detect antibodies to HIV-1 or HIV-2 infections in 1,160 consecutive, newly registered, adult psychiatric outpatients at a general hospital in South India to determine whether psychiatric patients presenting to general hospitals are a population at high risk for HIV infection and should be routinely screened. The seroprevalence of HIV infection (12/1160; 1.03%; 95% CI = 0.4-1.6%) did not approximate rates expected of a high-risk group compared to the national (0.7%) or regional community (1.8%) prevalence. It did not differ significantly from HIV seroprevalence in non-psychiatric patients (233/35450; 0.7%; 95% CI = 0.57-0.74%) who were systematically screened (relative risk = 1.57; 95% CI = 0.88-2.80) during the same period, but was greater than the seroprevalence in healthy blood donors (0.5%; p = 0.02; relative risk = 2.15 95% CI = 1.17-3.95). Non-psychiatric patients were also more likely to be HIV infected than blood donors (p = 0.02; relative risk = 1.37; 95% CI = 1.05-1.78). These findings have implications for HIV testing policies among psychiatric and non-psychiatric patients presenting to general hospitals in India.
Tharyan
P
P
Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu 632002, India. prathap@cmcvellore.ac.in
Ramalingam
S
S
Kannangai
R
R
Sridharan
G
G
Muliyil
J
J
Tharyan
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D015528:HIV Seroprevalence; D015497:HIV-1; D015498:HIV-2; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors