Psychiatric morbidity and HIV in female drug dependants in Malaysia

Female drug dependants (n = 171) and controls (n = 1137) were studied to se arch for psychiatric morbidity in them. The psychiatric morbidity was found to be 36.3% and 6.9%, respectively. The most common psychiatric disorder f ound was dysthymic disorder followed by adjustment disorder, anxiety disord er and borderline personality disorder. The diagnosis was significantly dep endent on the type of drug used (P < 0.001) and HIV seropositivity status o f the patients (P = 0.04). The findings highlight the relationship of the p sychiatric morbidity to the HIV status and female drug users. (C) 1998 Else vier, Paris.