Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume 109, Issue 3 , Pages 177-184, March 2010

Psychiatric Morbidity in HIV-infected Male Prisoners

  • Eugene Yu-Chang Peng

      Affiliations

    • Department of Community Medicine, Taipei City Hospital, Ren-Ai Branch, Taipei, Taiwan
    • School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Ming-Been Lee

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Donald Edward Morisky

      Affiliations

    • Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Los Angeles, USA
    • ,
  • Ching-Ying Yeh

      Affiliations

    • School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • David Farabee

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, USA
    • ,
  • Yu-Ching Lan

      Affiliations

    • Department of Health Risk Management, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan
    • AIDS Prevention and Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Yi-Ming Arthur Chen

      Affiliations

    • AIDS Prevention and Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • ,
  • Shu-Yu Lyu

      Affiliations

    • School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • AIDS Prevention and Research Center, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorrespondence to: Dr Shu-Yu Lyu, School of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 11031, Taiwan

Received 20 August 2009; received in revised form 14 September 2009; accepted 10 November 2009.

Background/Purpose

The seroincidence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Taiwan has drastically increased since 2004, particularly among injection drug users and prisoners. The major purpose of this study was to explore the prevalence and correlates of psychiatric morbidity among HIV-infected male prisoners.

Methods

In 2006, data were collected from all of HIV-infected male prisoners (n = 535) in seven prisons in Taiwan. This collection was performed using a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire in group settings directed by our interviewers. Psychiatric morbidity was measured using the five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale in 535 participants, which represented an 85% response rate. After excluding incomplete data, 479 participants were included in the analysis.

Results

Psychiatric morbidity was present in 46% of participants. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that correlates of the five-item Brief Symptom Rating Scale defined cases included the following: being a recidivist, having poor self-rated health status, and having experienced psychiatric symptoms in one's lifetime (e.g. significant physical pain or discomfort, depression for 2 weeks or longer, serious anxiety or tension, trouble understanding, concentrating, or remembering, and serious thoughts of suicide), with a Nagelkerke R2 equal to 0.365.

Conclusion

Psychiatric morbidity is prevalent among HIV-infected male prisoners. Tailored HIV/AIDS education related to mental health is therefore suggested for inclusion as part of a comprehensive HIV/AIDS training program among incarcerated populations.

Key Words:  HIV , incarcerated population , morbidity , prevalence , psychiatric

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PII: S0929-6646(10)60040-X

doi:10.1016/S0929-6646(10)60040-X

Journal of the Formosan Medical Association
Volume 109, Issue 3 , Pages 177-184, March 2010

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