School of Public Health, College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
School of Community Health and Policy, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD USA.
Int J Ment Health Syst. 2015 Mar 29;9:17. doi: 10.1186/s13033-015-0011-0. eCollection 2015.
Applying global estimates of the prevalence of mental disorders suggests that about 2.4 million Ghanaians have some form of psychiatric distress. Despite the facts that relatively little community-based treatment is available (only 18 psychiatrists are known to actively practice in Ghana), and that mental disorders are more concentrated among the incarcerated, there is no known research on mental disorders in Ghana prisons, and no forensic mental health services available to those who suffer from them. This study sought to determine the rate of mental distress among prisoners in Ghana.
This cross-sectional research used the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale to estimate the rates and severity of non-specific psychological distress among a stratified probability sample of 89 male and 11 female prisoners in one of the oldest correctional facilities in the country. Fisher's exact test was used to determine the rates of psychological distress within the study population.
According to the Kessler Scale, more than half of all respondents had moderate to severe mental distress in the four weeks preceding their interviews. Nearly 70% of inmates with only a primary education had moderate to severe mental distress. Though this was higher than the rates among inmates with more education, it exceeded the rates for those with no education.
The high rate of moderate to severe mental distress among the inmates in this exploratory study should serve as baseline for further studies into mental disorders among the incarcerated persons in Ghana. Future research should use larger samples, include more prison facilities, and incorporate tools that can identify specific mental disorders.
根据全球精神障碍患病率的估计，大约有 240 万加纳人存在某种形式的精神困扰。尽管事实上，加纳只有 18 名精神病医生在积极执业，而且精神障碍更多地集中在被监禁的人群中，但加纳监狱中的精神障碍问题目前还没有相关研究，也没有为这些人提供法医心理健康服务。本研究旨在确定加纳监狱囚犯的精神困扰率。
本横断面研究使用 Kessler 心理困扰量表，对该国最古老的惩教设施之一的 89 名男性和 11 名女性囚犯进行分层概率抽样，估计非特定性心理困扰的发生率和严重程度。Fisher 确切检验用于确定研究人群中的心理困扰率。
根据 Kessler 量表，超过一半的受访者在接受采访前的四周内有中度至重度的精神困扰。近 70%只有小学教育程度的囚犯有中度至重度的精神困扰。虽然这一比例高于受过更高教育的囚犯，但超过了没有受过教育的囚犯。
在这项探索性研究中，囚犯中有相当高比例的中度至重度精神困扰，应该作为进一步研究加纳被监禁者精神障碍的基线。未来的研究应该使用更大的样本，包括更多的监狱设施，并采用能够识别特定精神障碍的工具。
