Patients in psychiatric hospitals are at greater risk of tuberculosis, hepatitis or HIV compared with people in the general population, researchers report.

In a study of more than 650 men and women admitted to a psychiatric hospital between 1997 and 1999, the patients were 4-5 times as likely to have hepatitis B and 12 times as likely to have hepatitis C as those in the general public.

What's more, the risk seemed to be increasing. Just under 20% of patients were infected with hepatitis C in 1997 while 30% of patients in 1999 had the disease. Hepatitis is a viral infection of the liver that, in the case of hepatitis C, can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

The researchers found over 20% of the patients tested positive for tuberculosis -- 4 times the estimated rate in the US. And the rate of HIV among the psychiatric patients was estimated to be about 3%, at least 9 times that of the general population.

"It was interesting that these patients who are directly involved in the medical system have very poor medical care -- and less than 20% have regular medical doctors that they see,'' said study lead author Dr. W. F. Pirl, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and an attending psychiatrist at Eric Lindemann Mental Health Center (ELMHC) in Boston. He reported the findings this week at the annual meeting of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, in Palm Springs, California.

Pirl told Reuters Health that he was surprised by the high infection rates in the patients. Better testing and treatment could help the mentally ill, Pirl said.

"Treatments are available for these diseases. And I think prevention efforts need to give more attention to substance abuse treatment.'' he said.

Such patients may not get tested for HIV or hepatitis, even if they are known drug users. Sharing needles can greatly increase the risk of both HIV infection and hepatitis.

"Some of the things you would think would make people be tested -- such as a history of drug abuse -- were not indicative of whether or not they had been tested,'' Pirl said.

"So, in general, we need to find better ways to integrate medical doctors into the care of chronic psychiatric patients. All of them have some medical issues and it would be nice to develop a system where preventative health care was part of mental health systems instead of being separate.''

(From ChinaDaily)