HIV RISK BEHAVIOR AND HIV TESTING OF PSYCHIATRIC-PATIENTS IN MELBOURNE

Objectives: Patients with chronic mental illnesses constitute an impor tant risk group for HIV infection overseas. This study aimed to determ ine the prevalence of risk behaviours associated with HIV transmission and factors associated with HIV testing in psychiatric patients in Me lbourne. Methods: Inpatients and outpatients completed an interviewer- administered questionnaire which covered demographics, psychiatric dia gnosis, risk behaviour, and HIV education and testing. Results: Of 145 participants, 60% were male and 55.2% had schizophrenia. Injecting dr ug use (IDU) was reported by 15.9%, a figure approximately 10 times th at found in other population surveys. Most patients reported sex in th e last decade and over 20% had multiple sexual partners in the last ye ar. Of mates, 12.6% reported sex with another male (9.2% anal sex); 19 .0% of females reported sex with a bisexual male. Nearly half of the m ales reported sex with a prostitute, 2.5 times that in a population sa mple. Only 15.9% reported ever having someone talk to them specificall y about HIV and its transmission, although one-third had been tested f or HIV. In multivariate analysis, male-male sex, paying for sex, and I DU were associated with HIV testing, but those whose primary language was not English were less likely to be tested. Those who had received HIV education were more likely to have used a condom last time they ha d sex (OR 4.52, 95%Cl 1.49-14.0). Conclusions: This study provides evi dence that those with serious mental illness in Victoria have higher r ates of participation in risk behaviour for HIV infection than those i n the general community. Attention to HIV education and prevention in this group has been inappropriately scant; strategies to encourage saf er behaviour are urgently needed.