[Variables related to risk taking behavior for HIV transmission among drug-dependent patients].

Abstract

Aims: To determine the factors associated with the maintenance of HIV-related risk behaviours in opiate patients dependent and establish whether psychopathology and more specifically personality disorders are part of them.

Design: Cross-sectional study with descriptive and analytical elements.

Setting: The inpatient Drug-Dependence Unit of the Psychiatry Department at the Hospital Clínico Universitario in Valencia, Spain.

Study sample: Study subjects (n = 110) were consecutive first admissions to the Drug-Dependence Unit.

Instruments: The following instruments were used a structured clinical history, a Questionnaire on HIV-related risk behaviours, the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R personality disorders (SCID-II).

Results: Patients who had HIV-related risk behaviours were younger (CI95% = 0.43-3.99) and showed a younger age of first heroin and cocaine use. An association was found between a maintenance of risk behaviours and a current cocaine dependence (OR = 2.39; CI95% = 1.04-5.48), a current benzodiazepine dependence (OR = 6.81; CI95% = 2.67-17.38) and being HIV positive (OR = 2.5; CI95% = 1.10-5.67). An association was also found between HIV-related risk behaviours and the number of prior drug-related hospital admissions. The maintenance of risk behaviours was associated with the presence of personality disorders (OR = 2.63; CI95% = 1.18-5.84) and particularly with the antisocial personality disorder (OR = 3.75; CI95% = 1.61-8.75). The logistic regression analysis showed that the existence of benzodiazepine dependence, cocaine dependence, antisocial personality disorder and the number of drug-related admissions classified correctly 81.08% of patients.

Conclusions: The higher severity of patients that maintained HIV-related risk behaviours and the association found with personality disorders suggests the need of designing more efficient therapeutic strategies for a subpopulation of drug misuser that showing HIV-related risk behaviours.