Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T01:25:45.140Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Brooke, D, Taylor, C, Gunn, J, Maden, A. Point prevalence of mental disorder in unconvicted male prisoners in England and Wales. BMJ 1996; 313: 1524–1527.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2.Birmingham, L, Mason, D, Grubin, D. Prevalence of mental disorder in remand prisoners: consecutive case study. BMJ 1996; 313: 1521–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Fazei, S, Danesh, J. Serious mental disorder in 23 000 prisoners: a systematic review of 62 surveys. Lancet 2002; 359: 545–50.Google Scholar
4. Irish Prison Service Annual Report, 2002.Google Scholar
5.Endicott, J, Spitzer, RL. A diagnostic interview: schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1978; 35: 837–44.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.American Psychiatric Association. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Ed, revised. Washington DC, 1987.Google Scholar
7.World Health Organisation. The ICD-10 classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Diagnostic Criteria for Research. World Health Organisation. Geneva, 1993.Google Scholar
8.Curtin, K, Monks, S, Kennedy, HG (submitted) The problem of substance abuse and the abuse of problem use.Google Scholar
9.Phillips, GT, Gossop, MR, Edwards, G, Sutherland, G, Taylor, C, Strang, G. The application of the SODQ to the severity of opiate dependence in a British sample. Br J Addict 1987; 82: 691–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Central Statistics Office. Census 2002. Stationery Office, Dublin, Ireland.Google Scholar
11.Duffy, DM, Linehan, SA, Kennedy, HG (submitted). Psychiatric Morbidity in the sentenced Irish Prisons Population.Google Scholar