Institute of Health and Social Care, London South Bank University, London, UK.
University of Auckland, New Zealand & Visiting Senior Lecturer, King's College London, London, UK.
BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Aug 12;22(1):551. doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-04150-4.
Court Mental Health Liaison and Diversion Services (CMHLDS) have developed in some countries as a response to the over-representation of mental illness and other vulnerabilities amongst defendants presenting to criminal justice (or correctional) systems. This study examined the characteristics and rates of mental disorder of 9088 defendants referred to CMHLDS.
The study analysed service level data, obtained from the National Health Service's mental health data set, to examine characteristics relating to gender, ethnicity and comorbidity of common mental and neurodevelopmental disorders at five CMHLDS across London between September 2015 and April 2017.
The sample included 7186 males (79.1%) and 1719 females (18.9%), the gender of 183 (2%) were not recorded. Of those referred, 6616 (72.8%) presented with an identifiable mental disorder and 503 (5.5%) with a neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD). Significantly higher rates of schizophrenia were reported amongst Black defendants (n = 681; 37.2%) and Asian defendants (n = 315; 29%), while higher rates of depression were found amongst White defendants (n = 1007; 22.1%). Substance misuse was reported amongst 2813 defendants (31%), and alcohol misuse amongst 2111 (23.2%), with significantly high rates of substance and alcohol misuse amongst defendants presenting with schizophrenia or personality disorder.
This is one of the largest studies to examine mental health needs and vulnerabilities amongst defendants presenting to CMHLDS. It will enable an improved understanding of the required service designs and resources required to manage the healthcare pathways for people attending CMHLDS.
法庭心理健康联络和转介服务(CMHLDS)在一些国家发展起来,作为对刑事司法(或矫正)系统中出现的精神疾病和其他弱势群体过多的回应。本研究调查了转介至 CMHLDS 的 9088 名被告的精神障碍特征和发生率。
该研究分析了服务水平数据,这些数据来自国家卫生服务中心的心理健康数据集,以检查 2015 年 9 月至 2017 年 4 月期间在伦敦五个 CMHLDS 中与性别、族裔和常见精神和神经发育障碍共病相关的特征。
样本包括 7186 名男性(79.1%)和 1719 名女性(18.9%),183 名(2%)的性别未记录。在转介的人群中,有 6616 人(72.8%)患有可识别的精神障碍,503 人(5.5%)患有神经发育障碍(NDD)。黑人被告(n=681;37.2%)和亚裔被告(n=315;29%)报告的精神分裂症发病率明显较高,而白人被告(n=1007;22.1%)报告的抑郁症发病率较高。2813 名被告(31%)报告有物质滥用,2111 名被告(23.2%)报告有酒精滥用,在出现精神分裂症或人格障碍的被告中,物质和酒精滥用的比率明显较高。
这是一项对转介至 CMHLDS 的被告的心理健康需求和脆弱性进行检查的最大规模研究之一。它将使人们更好地了解管理参加 CMHLDS 的人员的医疗保健途径所需的服务设计和资源。