Psychiatric morbidity among sentenced prisoners: prevalence study in Iran.

Journal article

BACKGROUND: Information on psychiatric morbidity of prisoners has almost entirely been based on research in Western countries and it is uncertain whether these research findings are applicable to other settings. AIMS: The primary objective was to investigate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in Iranian prisoners. METHOD: Through stratified random sampling, 351 prisoners were interviewed using the clinical version of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version. RESULTS: The majority (88%) of prisoners met DSM-IV criteria for lifetime diagnosis of at least one Axis I disorder and 57% were diagnosed with current Axis I disorders. Opioid dependence (73%) had the highest prevalence among lifetime diagnoses, whereas major depressive disorder (29%) was the most common current diagnosis. Psychopathy was recorded in 23%. Prevalence rates of psychiatric disorders were significantly different among offence categories. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that a substantial burden of psychiatric morbidity exists in the prison population of Iran, with treatment challenges that appear to be different from those observed in inmates in Western countries.

Authors: Assadi, S; Noroozian, M; Pakravannejad, M; Yahyazadeh, O; Aghayan, S

• Journal: British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science
• Volume: 188
• Issue: FEB.
• Pages: 159-164
• Publication date: 2006-02-01
• DOI: 10.1192/bjp.188.2.159
• EISSN: 1472-1465
• ISSN: 0007-1250
• Language: English
• Keywords: Adolescent; Age Distribution; Antisocial Personality Disorder; Humans; Anxiety Disorders; Middle Aged; Iran; Prevalence; Depressive Disorder, Major; Comorbidity; Opioid-Related Disorders; Male; Psychotic Disorders; Mental Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Phobic Disorders; Adult; Aged; Prisoners