Mental Status of HIV Positive Patients Referred to Kermanshah Health Care Center

Acquired Immune Deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a fatal nervous system disorder associated with infections caused by retro family known as Human Immune Virus (HIV). The present research was carried out with regard to the high prevalence of mental disorders among the HIV positive patients referred to Kermanshah Health care Center(KHCC). The present study is a descriptive, cross sectional one in which 132 HIV positive patients were studied (11 female, 121 male). All subjects were studied and assessed in two stages; a) by using cut–off point system (>5) and self- rating questionnaire (SRQ – 24) as a screening tool and b) clinical judgement forwarded by the psychiatrist on the basis of regulations.. The data were analysed by applying descriptive statistics. The result revealed that 93.2% of the assessed patients were parallel to the diagnostic criteria of the mental disorders. 93.9 % (96.7% male, 63.6% female) with the drug dependency disorders, 43.2% (41.3% male, 63.6% female) with mood disorders, 18.9% (19% male, 18.2% female) with anxiety disorders and 11.4% (9.1% male, 36.4% female) with somatoform disorders. The above mentioned disorders were the most common disorders seen in each sample. Also, 74.2% of the total sample were shown to match the diagnostic criteria for personality disorders at axis II, in which antisocial personality (31.8%) and borderline disorders (18.9%) were the most commonly dignosed respectively. Regarding the results obtained from the present research and the high rate of mental disorders in HIV positive patients, this group must be under special control for prevention.