HIV Positivity among Psychiatric Population

An anonymous, unlinked study was conducted to detect antibodies to HIV-1 or HIV-2 infections in 460 consecutive, newly registered, adult psychiatric outpatients to determine whether psychiatric patients presenting to teaching and general hospitals are a population at high risk for HIV infection and should be routinely screened. The seroprevalence of HIV infection (6460 1.3) did not approximate rates expected of a high-risk group compared to the national prevalence (0.3) or regional community prevalence (0.3). These findings have implications for HIV testing policies among psychiatric patients presenting to teaching and general hospitals in India.