Sexual Risk Behaviors and Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevalence in an Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic : Sexually Transmitted Diseases

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Sexual Risk Behaviors and Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevalence in an Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic

King, Cynthia MD, MPH*; Feldman, Jacqueline MD†; Waithaka, Yvonne MPH*; Aban, Inmaaculada PhD§; Hu, Jianfang MS§; Zhang, Sijian MS§; Hook, Edward III MD*‡∥; Bachmann, Laura H. MD, MPH*‡¶

Author Information

From the Departments of *Medicine and †Psychiatry, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama; Departments of ‡Epidemiology and §Biostatistics, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health, Birmingham, Alabama; ∥The Jefferson County Department of Health, Birmingham, Alabama; and the ¶Birmingham Veterans Administration Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama

Supported by the Protective Life Clinical Initiative Award, an intramural grant funded by the Protective Life Corporation in Birmingham, AL.

Correspondence: Laura H. Bachmann, MD, MPH, 703 19th Street South, Zeigler Research Building 242, Birmingham, AL 35294-0007. E-mail: gret.uab.edu.

Received for publication June 22, 2007, and accepted April 11, 2008.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases 35(10):p 877-882, October 2008. | DOI: 10.1097/OLQ.0b013e31817bbc89

Background: 

Nearly 3% of Americans experience severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) and behaviors that place affected individuals at risk for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are common. Few data describe the prevalence of risk behaviors or STI among persons with SPMI. We aim to quantitate STI/human immunodeficiency virus risk and determine the STI prevalence amongst outpatient psychiatric clinic attendees.

Methods: 

Psychiatric outpatients were approached to participate in an interviewer-administered survey collecting data on their sexual history, psychiatric history, and risk behaviors. Females submitted self-collected vaginal swabs, whereas males submitted urine to be tested for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydiatrachomatis, and Trichomonas vaginalis (women only).

Results: 

The prevalence of N. gonorrhoeae was 1%, C. trachomatis 3.3% and T. vaginalis 15.7%. Exchanging sex for drugs was the only behavior independently associated with having an STI in this population.

Conclusions: 

Taking a sexual history in persons with SPMI is important. Those engaging in high-risk behavior should be routinely screened for STI/human immunodeficiency virus allowing for detection, treatment, and preventive education.

© Copyright 2008 American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association

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