HIV Testing Higher Among Mentally Ill Individuals

A recent study published in the journal AIDS Patient Care and STDs shows that HIV/AIDS is about four times higher among mentally ill people than in the general population.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that health care workers recognized risk when providing adequate HIV testing for the mentally ill. Fortunately, the first step towards proper treatment is getting the necessary parties tested.

However, findings showed that discrimination against shoe with mental health problems and substance abuse disorders often deterred many from coming forward and seeking out the proper health care, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

For the study, researchers reviewed the data on 21,785 adult respondents from the 2007 National Health Interview Survey. Findings revealed that about 15 percent reported a psychiatric disorder, while 48 percent of those with a psychiatric disorder had also been tested for HIV when compared to 35 percent of those without mental illness.

"Our finding that persons with mental illness were tested for HIV at a higher rate than those without mental illness is encouraging and consistent with previous analyses," said Baligh R. Yehia, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, in a news release. "However, the large number of people with mental illness who still have not been tested necessitates increased public health prevention efforts, particularly in light of the increased HIV risk in this population."

Furthermore, mentally ill individuals are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors that are oftentimes associated with HIV transmission through unprotected sexual intercourse, drug injection or sex with multiple partners.