Am J Psychiatry 1993; 150:53-58
Copyright © 1993 by American Psychiatric Association
Antisocial personality disorder and HIV infection among intravenous drug abusers
RK Brooner, L Greenfield, CW Schmidt and GE Bigelow
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.
OBJECTIVE: Antisocial personality disorder in drug abusers has been
associated with poor treatment outcome. The authors examined the
relationship between diagnosis of antisocial personality and HIV infection.
METHOD: Subjects were 272 intravenous drug abusers, 140 (52%) of whom were
in methadone treatment. Subjects were given an HIV risk behavior interview
before diagnostic interviewing and HIV testing. RESULTS: Using the
DSM-III-R definition, the authors found that 119 (44%) of the subjects met
criteria for antisocial personality. Significantly more of the subjects
with antisocial personality (18% [N = 21] than of the subjects without
antisocial personality (8% [N = 12]) had HIV infection. The diagnosis of
antisocial personality disorder was associated with a significantly higher
odds ratio of infection independent of ethnicity, gender, and treatment
status. CONCLUSIONS: Antisocial personality is a risk factor for HIV
infection among intravenous drug abusers.
