title: Exposure to HIV in Brazilian adolescents: the impact of psychiatric symptomatology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine associations between psychiatric symptomatology and HIV-positive status in adolescents who sought HIV testing at a public health center in Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional study, 388 adolescents assessed for their HIV status were also evaluated for psychiatric symptomatology using the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R). The impact of potential confounding variables such as risk behaviors was ascertained using the Brazilian version of the Risk Assessment Battery (RAB).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall seropositivity rate was 6.2%. Seropositives had significantly higher scores in all dimensions of psychiatric symptomatology in the SCL-90-R (P < 0.05 and effect sizes > 0.5 in all dimensions). In multiple analyses, with the inclusion of 3 composite variables (sex-risk, drug-risk, and psychiatric symptomatology), only psychiatric symptoms were associated with positive HIV status (OR = 1.88, CI95% = 1.06-3.34; P = 0.032).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that amongst young people asking for HIV testing in Brazil, seropositivity is associated with psychological symptoms and that screening for the latter would therefore be appropriate in this context.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Psiquiatria da Infância e Adolescência, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. abassols@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Ana Margareth Siqueira
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Bassols
authors.forename: Rafael Alberto
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Luis Augusto
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rohde
authors.forename: Flávio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pechansky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010555:Personality Inventory; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D021841:Safe Sex; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires