Schizophrenia sufferers have been demonstrated to have relatively poor HIV/AIDS risk-behavior knowledge and, as a group, are found to be particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV. The authors asked whether an association could be demonstrated between specific symptoms and differing levels of knowledge. A structured clinical interview and HIV/AIDS Risk Questionnaires were administered to 102 subjects, and a principal-component analysis was performed for global and individual items, followed by comparisons between factors. Three factors (negative, positive, and global thought-disorder) emerged as significant between poor HIV/AIDS risk-behavior knowledge and higher negative-symptom scores. Findings support the notion that existing educational programs should be adapted to target specific areas of deficit.
South Africa is home to 46 million people, of which 5.3 million are estimated to be HIV-positive, representing a total population prevalence rate of 11%—one of the highest in the world. Studies have indicated that people living with a serious mental illness are particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV. Reported rates of infection in mentally ill patients range from 3.1% to 22% (no South African data exist), in comparison to reported ranges of between 0.6% and 11% in the general population.
The popular misconception that severely mentally ill persons lack the skills to form intimate relationships or have less need to do so led to the underestimation of the risk of HIV infection in this population during the first decade of the AIDS epidemic. Even now, many contemporary mental-health policy reports fail to discuss the risk of HIV/AIDS in people with severe mental illness, and there are few specific references to sexual-health promotion in these documents.
In fact, studies examining high-risk sexual behaviors among adults with severe mental illness have indicated that not only do they often engage in such behaviors (e.g., unprotected intercourse, multiple partners, sex trade, and intravenous drug use), but they also underestimate the risk of infection. They report little fear of contracting HIV with their perception of personal risk of infection ranging from none to low.
Furthermore, comparative studies have revealed that people with severe mental illness (and specifically those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia) exhibit lower levels of HIV/AIDS risk-behavior knowledge than is found in the general population.
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http://psy.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/reprint/48/2/128
