Background: Mentally ill persons are vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections including hepatitis B and C because of their high level risky behaviors. This study is aimed at establishing the sero-prevalence of hepatitis B and C among the mentally ill individuals (MII) attending psychiatric clinic of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital (UITH), Nigeria since it has not been documented.
Methods: A total of 350 MII were recruited. HBsAg testing was by immunoassay test strip (Grand Medical Diagnostic R USA) while hepatitis C was tested by commercially prepared kits from ACON, R USA. Healthy adults who presented as donors in the blood bank of the hospital were used as controls.
Results: A total of 700 participants including 350 MII and 350 blood donors (BDs) were recruited for the study. The mean ages of MII and control participants were 36.5 ± 12.3 and 31.4 ± 8.3, respectively.The sero-prevalence of hepatitis B and C among patients with mental illness was 10.0 and 12.6%, respectively, as compared to 10.9% and 1.1% of the blood donors. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of HCV among mentally ill when compared with the blood donors (P = 0.001, χ2 = 33.97; OR (CI) =12.44 (5.33-29.03).
Conclusion: Mentally ill patients attending UITH were significantly infected with hepatitis C virus. There is need for interventional measures to reduce the prevalence of hepatitis C among the mentally ill population such as health education and early screening of mentally ill in our setting.