Prevalence of Personality Disorders in Patients with HIV Infection Referred to Voluntary Counseling and Testing Center, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran

HIV infection affects all aspects of life, including physical, psychological, social, and even spiritual. Personality disorders can also contribute to the disease through high-risk behaviors and recognizing them could be beneficial in designing programs to prevent HIV in the community. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of personality disorders in patients with HIV infection.

Totally, 100 HIV-infected patients who were registered and treated at Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran were recruited. Subjects were assessed by the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) called the Mini-Mult and the demographic questionnaire. SPSS software (Version 22) was used to analyze the data.

Based on the scales for hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, antisocial personality disorders, paranoid personality disorder, psychasthenia, schizophrenia, and mania, 40, 5, 25, 23.3, 18.3, 28.3, 28.3, and 8.3% of patients had scores above 70, respectively. The highest prevalence of personality disorder with T scores above 70 belongs to hypochondriasis with a prevalence of 40% and the lowest prevalence of personality disorders with T scores above 70 belongs to depression (5%).

The findings indicate that the prevalence of personality disorders in people living with HIV (PLWH) is higher than the general population with the highest prevalence for hypochondriasis and the lowest prevalence for depression. Therefore, future policies are better to consider such personality disorders in formulating programs and interventions to improve HIV care and treatment.