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Psychiatric morbidity in a cross-sectional sample of male remanded prisoners?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 June 2014

Sally A Linehan ,
Dearbhla M Duffy ,
Brenda Wright ,
Katherine Curtin ,
Stephen Monks  and
Harry G Kennedy
Harry G Kennedy
Affiliation:
National Forensic Mental Health Service, Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum, Dublin 14, Ireland and Clinical Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychiatry, University of Dublin, TCD, Dublin, Ireland
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Abstract

Objectives: To estimate the psychiatric service requirements for the remand population.

Method: We interviewed 232 (42.6%) men, a representative sample of men on remand, using the SADS-L, SODQ and a structured demographic interview.

Results: We found high rates of psychiatric morbidity in our sample. The six month prevalence of psychosis was 7.6%, almost twice the rate in a recent international meta-analysis. Major depressive disorder was present in 10.1% (six month prevalence). Substance misuse problems were also common but there was no significant difference between rates of substance misuse in psychotic and nonpsychotic prisoners. A total of 31.2% had a lifetime history of any mental illness (excluding substance misuse, adjustment disorder and personality disorder).

Conclusions: The high levels of psychiatric morbidity detected in our sample indicate a substantial unmet need for mental health services and addiction treatment services for the mentally ill in Irish prisons.

Keywords

Psychiatric morbidityMale remanded prisonersMental health servicesAddiction treatment
Type
Brief Report
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 22 , Issue 4 , December 2005 , pp. 128 - 132
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2005

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