Dual diagnosis: HIV and mental illness, a population-based study.

This is a cross-sectional, population-based (n = 378,710) study using hospital discharge abstract data to determine the relative risk associated with having a dual diagnosis of mental illness and HIV/AIDS. The analysis addresses issues of gender, race, and age, as well as types of mental illness. Persons with a mental illness are 1.44 times more likely to have HIV/AIDS. Women are at increased risk of being dually diagnosed. There are no risk differences by race. Those with a specific diagnosis of substance abuse or a depressive disorder are more likely to have a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS.