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Introduction: Globally, depression rates are high among men who have sex with men (MSM). Multiple factors may interact synergistically to increase this risk. This analysis assessed the prevalence of symptoms of depression among MSM in Brazil and synergistic effects of several factors. Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in 12 cities using respondent-driven sampling. Sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics were collected. The PHQ-9 was used to screen for depression. Having moderate-severe depressive symptoms was compared to none-mild using logistic regression. The syndemic factor was a composite of hazardous alcohol use, sexual violence, and discrimination due to sexual orientation. Those with one to three of these factors were compared to those with none. Results: The weighted prevalence of moderate-severe depressive symptoms was 24.9% (95%CI = 21.8-28.8) and 16.2%, 22.9%, 46.0% and 51.0% when none, one, two, or three syndemic factors were present, respectively, indicating a dose-response effect. Perception of HIV risk, high level of HIV knowledge, known HIV infection, and health self-rated as poor or very poor were also associated with depressive symptoms. Conclusion: The prevalence of moderate-severe depressive symptoms among MSM in Brazil is high, and selected factors act synergistically in increasing their prevalence. Public health policies should consider holistic depression prevention and treatment interventions for this population.

Objective: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention efficacy trials with psychiatric patients have been conducted in research settings in high-resourced countries, establishing short-term efficacy for reducing sexual risk behavior. None has been implemented within systems of care. In the last decade, overcoming this research-to-practice gap has become a focus of implementation science. This paper describes the first and only HIV Prevention intervention trial for psychiatric patients conducted in real-world outpatient psychiatric settings facilitated by trained clinic-based providers. Methods: The HIV Prevention intervention, which uses the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills model to achieve sexual risk-reduction, was rigorously adapted to the local context and clinic services’ needs. Participants from eight clinics were randomized to HIV Prevention or Health Promotion conditions. Results: HIV Prevention participants showed significant improvement in Information-Motivation-Behavioral domains; in this group, behavioral intentions were associated with significantly fewer unprotected sex occasions, but reduction of unprotected sex occasions was similar in both conditions. Conclusion: Our trial was conducted before implementation studies became widely funded. Transporting an intervention to a new culture or into real-world practice settings may require adaptations. Our results demonstrate that clear guidelines are needed regarding whether to conduct efficacy, effectiveness, and/or implementation research as the most appropriate next step. Clinical trial registration: NCT00881699

ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To estimate factors associated to illicit drug use among patients with mental illness in Brazil according to gender. METHODS A cross-sectional representative sample of psychiatric patients (2,475 individuals) was randomly selected from 11 hospitals and 15 public mental health outpatient clinics. Data on self-reported illicit drug use and sociodemographic, clinical and behavioral characteristics were obtained from face-to-face interviews. Logistic regression was used to estimate associations with recent illicit drug use. RESULTS The prevalence of any recent illicit drug use was 11.4%. Men had higher prevalence than women for all substances (17.5% and 5.6%, respectively). Lower education, history of physical violence, and history of homelessness were associated with drug use among men only; not professing a religion was associated with drug use in women only. For both men and women, younger age, current hospitalization, alcohol and tobacco use, history of incarceration, younger age at sexual debut, and more than one sexual partner were statistically associated with illicit drug use. CONCLUSIONS Recent illicit drug use among psychiatric patients is higher than among the general Brazilian population and it is associated with multiple factors including markers of psychiatric severity. Our data indicate the need for the development of gender-based drug-use interventions among psychiatric patients in Brazil. Integration of substance use treatment strategies with mental health treatment should be a priority.

OBJECTIVE: To assess individual and/or health service factors associated with patients returning for results of HIV or sexually transmitted infection (STI) tests in mental health centers. METHODS: Cross-sectional national multicenter study among 2,080 patients randomly selected from 26 Brazilian mental health centers in 2007. Multilevel logistic regression was used to assess the effect of individual (level 1) and mental health service characteristics (level 2) on receipt of test results. RESULTS: The rate of returning HIV/STI test results was 79.6%. Among health service characteristics examined, only condom distribution was associated with receiving HIV/STI test results, whereas several individual characteristics were independently associated including living in the same city where treatment centers are; being single; not having heard of AIDS; and not having been previously HIV tested. CONCLUSIONS: It is urgent to expand HIV/STI testing in health services which provide care for patients with potentially increased vulnerability to these conditions, and to promote better integration between mental health and health services.

Nas últimas décadas do século vinte, duas formas radicalmente opostas de retratar culturalmente o parentesco emergiram, de um lado, nas narrativas da psicologia evolucionista e, de outro, naquelas das novas tecnologias biogenéticas. Ambas são peculiarmente influenciadas por uma obsessão euro-americana com escolha, mas movem-se em direções opostas. Enquanto Marilyn Strathern (1992) tem argumentado que as novas tecnologias reprodutivas "hiper-sofisticam" a natureza - tomada como biologia - dissolvendo-a num transbordar de escolhas, eu alego que os psicólogos evolucionistas "super-simplificam" a cultura - tomada como escolha pessoal - dissolvendo-a em seleção natural/sexual e "mecanismos" psicológicos inatos. Enquanto outros pesquisadores consideraram as transformações culturais engendradas pelas tecnologias reprodutivas e biogenéticas, neste artigo eu proponho analisar o emaranhado de analogias, pressupostos, omissões, e saltos lógicos e imaginativos que possibilitam a super-simplificação da cultura perpetrada pela psicologia evolucionista no seu tratamento reducionista de parentesco e gênero, além de mapear algumas das conseqüências daquela narrativa.During the waning decades of the twentieth century, two radically opposed cultural accounts of kinship emerged in the narratives of evolutionary psychology, on the one hand, and in those of the new reproductive and biogenetic technologies, on the other. Both are peculiarly inflected by a Euro-American cultural obsession with choice, but they move in opposite directions. Whereas Marilyn Strathern (1992) has argued that the new reproductive technologies "enterprise up" nature - read as biology - dissolving it into a plethora of choices, I contend that evolutionary psychologists "enterprise down" culture - read as individual choice - dissolving it into natural/sexual selection and innate psychological "mechanisms". While others have traced the cultural transformations engendered by the reproductive and biogenetic technologies, in this paper I attempt to untangle the web of analogies, assumptions, erasures, and imaginative leaps that make possible the "enterprising down" of culture in evolutionary psychology's reductive account of kinship and gender and to map some of the consequences of that account.

A limited number of studies worldwide have investigated the prevalence of HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B and C infection among psychiatric patients. However, prevalence of these infections in the population with chronic mental illness has not been clearly established. Most of the published papers are from developed countries and have derived from relatively small and non-representative samples. We performed a systematic review of the published literature to identify studies on these infectious diseases within psychiatric populations in Brazil and other developing countries. Overall, prevalence rates varied from 0% to 29% for HIV; 1.6% to 66% for HBV; 0.4% to 38% for HCV; and 1.1% to 7.6% for syphilis. Several risk factors were identified and discussed, although sampling limitations restrict the generalization of study findings. This review highlights the lack of information on the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases and their associated factors among persons with chronic mental illness and identifies gaps in the knowledge base in both developing and developed countries.Os portadores de doenças mentais crônicas encontram-se em risco para a infecção pelo HIV e outras infecções sexualmente transmissíveis. Entretanto, a prevalência dessas infecções entre portadores de doença mental crônica ainda não está claramente estabelecida nesta população. A maioria dos trabalhos sobre o tema foi conduzida em países desenvolvidos, com amostras relativamente pequenas e não representativas. Foi realizada uma revisão sistemática da literatura para identificar estudos sobre a prevalência do HIV, sífilis, hepatite B e C entre pacientes com doença mental crônica no Brasil e no mundo. De um modo geral, as prevalências variaram de 0% a 29%, 3 a 66%, 0,4 a 38% e 3,3% a 7,6% para HIV, hepatite B, hepatite C e sífilis, respectivamente. Vários fatores de risco foram identificados e discutidos, embora a literatura atual não demonstre achados significativos gerados por estudos representativos. Tal revisão destaca a escassez de informação sobre a prevalência de infecções sexualmente transmitidas e seus fatores associados entre portadores de doenças mentais crônicas e identifica lacunas no conhecimento atual em países desenvolvidos bem como nos em desenvolvimento.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of HIV among psychiatric patients is higher than general population rates worldwide. Many risk behaviors have been identified in studies from both developing and developed countries, though sampling limitations restrict the generalizability of their results. The objective of this study was to report findings from the first national sample of psychiatric patients about lifetime practice of unsafe sex and associated factors. METHOD: A national multicenter sample of adults with mental illness was randomly selected from 26 public mental health institutions throughout Brazil. Sociodemographic, sexual behavior and clinical data were obtained from person-to-person interviews and blood was collected for serology testing. Logistic regression was used for analysis. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of lifetime unprotected sex was 80.3%. Married, older, female patients, those with multiple partners and living with children or partners only and those with less severe psychiatric diagnosis more often practised unsafe sex. DISCUSSION: Risk behavior assessment is a critical tool for clinicians to be able to determine needed HIV-related services for their clients and ensure appropriate follow-through with care and prevention. Interventions that address situational risks in psychiatric patients' lives-institutional and individual- and increase their ability to make informed decisions about their sexual health are urgently needed.OBJETIVO: A prevalência do HIV em pacientes psiquiátricos é maior do que na população geral em diversos países. Diversos comportamentos de risco têm sido identificados em estudos em países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento. Entretanto, limitações amostrais restringem a generalização dos resultados em sua grande maioria. O objetivo deste trabalho foi apresentar resultados do primeiro estudo representativo de uma amostra nacional de pacientes psiquiátricos sobre a prática do sexo desprotegido e seus fatores associados. MÉTODO: Uma amostra representativa de pacientes adultos com transtornos mentais foi aleatoriamente selecionada de instituições públicas de saúde mental no Brasil. Dados sociodemográficos, comportamentais e clínicos foram obtidos por entrevista face-a-face e sangue foi coletado para exames sorológicos. Foi utilizada regressão logística para análise estatística. RESULTADOS: A prevalência da prática do sexo desprotegido ao longo da vida foi de 80,3%. Pacientes casados/em união, mais velhos e do sexo feminino, aqueles com múltiplos parceiros e morando somente com filhos ou com parceiros e aqueles com condições psiquiátricas menos graves praticaram o sexo desprotegido mais frequentemente. DISCUSSÃO: A avaliação de comportamentos de risco é um instrumento crítico para que profissionais de saúde sejam capazes de determinar as necessidades de cuidados relacionados ao HIV para seus pacientes garantindo o acesso ao tratamento e prevenção. Intervenções que abordam situações de risco na vida dos pacientes psiquiátricos - institucional ou individual - e que contribuam para sua capacidade de tomar decisões informadas sobre sua saúde sexual são urgentemente necessárias.

ABSTRACT Objective We evaluated the psychometric properties of a new instrument “Mental Illness Sexual Stigma Questionnaire” (MISS-Q). Methods We interviewed 641 sexually active adults (ages 18-80) attending public outpatient psychiatric clinics in Rio de Janeiro about their stigma experiences. Results Nine factors were extracted through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and labeled: ‘individual discrimination by others’; ‘staff willingness to talk about sexuality’; ‘staff and family prohibitions’; ‘sexual devaluation of self’; ‘perceived attractiveness’; ‘mental illness concealment’; ‘perceived sexual role competence’; ‘withdrawal’; and ‘locus of social-sexual control’. ‘Withdrawal’ and ‘locus of social-sexual control’ showed poor psychometric properties and were excluded from further analysis. The remaining seven factors had high factorial loadings (.39 to .86), varying from sufficient to optimal reliability (Ordinal α ranged from .57 to .88), and good convergent and discriminant validity. Conclusions The resulting MISS-Q is the first instrument assessing mental illness sexual stigma with demonstrated psychometric properties. It may prove useful in reducing stigma, protecting sexual health, and promoting recovery.

OBJECTIVE: To assess individual and/or health service factors associated with patients returning for results of HIV or sexually transmitted infection (STI) tests in mental health centers. METHODS: Cross-sectional national multicenter study among 2,080 patients randomly selected from 26 Brazilian mental health centers in 2007. Multilevel logistic regression was used to assess the effect of individual (level 1) and mental health service characteristics (level 2) on receipt of test results. RESULTS: The rate of returning HIV/STI test results was 79.6%. Among health service characteristics examined, only condom distribution was associated with receiving HIV/STI test results, whereas several individual characteristics were independently associated including living in the same city where treatment centers are; being single; not having heard of AIDS; and not having been previously HIV tested. CONCLUSIONS: It is urgent to expand HIV/STI testing in health services which provide care for patients with potentially increased vulnerability to these conditions, and to promote better integration between mental health and health services.