Seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus infection among Chinese psychiatric patients in Taiwan.

Psychiatric patients were reported to have high risks of contracting HIV infection due to unstable mental symptoms and comorbidity of drug abuse. The author surveyed the seroprevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection among Chinese psychiatric patients hospitalized in 2 psychiatric hospitals in the Taipei City area, Taiwan. No positive case was identified among 834 psychiatric patients in 1 year's survey. The low seropositive rate of HIV infection among Chinese psychiatric patients may be explained by: the low prevalence of HIV infection in Taiwan and low HIV-related risk behaviors, especially rare comorbidity of drug abuse among Chinese psychiatric patients.