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Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in HIV-Positive Incarcerated Women

Dr. Lewis is Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT. Presented in part at the 34th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, San Antonio, October 2003, and at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, San Francisco, May 2003. Supported by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Women's Health, University of Connecticut Health Center, Grant NIH5K12-HD01409-04; and Research Initiation and Support Enhancement, University of Connecticut Health Center, General Clinical Research Center. Address correspondence to: Catherine F. Lewis, MD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT 06030-2103. E-mail: lewis{at}psychiatry.uchc.edu

The primary objective of this study was to examine a sample (n = 81) of HIV-positive incarcerated women to compare those with and thosewithout a diagnosis of lifetime post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with respect to demographics and legal, psychiatric, and health utilization histories. A secondary objective was to describe the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the sample. Eighty-one women were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-P), SCID II, and the Clinician Administered Post-traumatic Stress Scale for DSM-IV (CAPS). Women with lifetime PTSD (n = 60) were more likely than those without (n = 21) to be white or Hispanic and to have a history of arrests for prostitution, risky sexual behavior, and intravenous drug use. Women with lifetime PTSD were also more likely to have had outpatient psychiatric treatment, treatment with psychiatric medications, suicide attempts, lifetime cannabis abuse/dependence, lifetime major depression, and antisocial personality disorder. These results suggest that HIV-positive female inmates with lifetime PTSD are a complex population who are likely to need careful psychiatric assessment, and medical and mental health treatment.