AIDS knowledge and high-risk behaviour in the chronic mentally ill

Objective: To ascertain the degree of HIV-risk knowledge among patients attending a downtown program and to identify, the extent of high-risk behaviour for HIV infection. Method: A total of 151 patients were selected at the Calgary Community Mental Health Clinic (N = 110) and the nearby Self Help Association (N = 41). Most of the subjects were being treated for either schizophrenia (n = 69), bipolar disorder (n = 37), or unipolar mood disorder (n = 35). Questionnaires included a 10-item instrument that assessed subjects' knowledge about HIV or AIDS and another 10-item tool that assessed the high-risk situations patients might have encountered over the past month or past year. Results: Although the percentage of subjects erring on questions about AIDS knowledge was smaller when compared with previous studies, a significant number of subjects believed that one could acquire AIDS by donating blood, and 25% did not think that having only one unsafe sexual contact would make them vulnerable to HIV infection. At least 50% of the participants have had sex with at least one partner in the past year, and 33% of the participants indicated that they would not insist that they or their partners wear a condom. Conclusions: This Canadian study confirms the need for psychiatrists and mental health workers to continue to explore high-risk behaviour in the chronic mentally in population and to further educate these patients through the development of prevention and risk-reduction strategies.