Donnir Gordon M, Asare-Doku Winifred
School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia.
Department of Psychiatry, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.
Crim Behav Ment Health. 2023 Oct;33(5):354-368. doi: 10.1002/cbm.2307. Epub 2023 Aug 7.
Extant literature has shown that there is a higher prevalence of mental disorders among prisoners compared to the general population. These findings have, however, mostly been from high-income and westernised cultures. In Ghana, little is known about the extent of psychiatric disorders among prisoners, as is consistent with the dearth of scholarly work in low and middle-income countries.
Our aim was to determine the prevalence of common mental disorders among sentenced prisoners in the second largest prison in Ghana.
A cross-sectional survey research design was used in one prison. The Mini International Neuro-Psychiatric Interview questionnaire was used to collect data from men and women serving prison sentences who volunteered for the study. Socio-demographic characteristics and criminal history data were collected using a questionnaire designed by the researchers.
Five hundred prisoners participated. Nearly half (246, 49.8%) had at least one psychiatric disorder. The most prevalent disorders were major depression and a range of anxiety disorders (145, 29%, 132, 26% respectively). A smaller proportion recorded high scores on the antisocial personality disorder scale (13%); just 50 (10%) reported using substances in the 12 months before interview, but this is a minimum estimate of such problems as many were already in prison during that time. None of these prisoners, regardless of disorder, had been screened, diagnosed, or treated in prison.
This study contributes to the gap in scholarly literature in low- and middle-income countries on psychiatric disorders in the prison population. It will be important to explore further the extent to which the internationally recognised screening tools used led to under-estimation of psychiatric disorders. The findings are of immediate practical importance nationally as they highlight the need to implement reforms anticipated by the new mental health legislation of 2012 and strategies for interagency working to improve health services and their uptake in the criminal justice system.
现有文献表明，与普通人群相比，囚犯中精神障碍的患病率更高。然而，这些研究结果大多来自高收入和西方化文化背景。在加纳，人们对囚犯中精神疾病的程度知之甚少，这与低收入和中等收入国家学术研究的匮乏相一致。
我们的目的是确定加纳第二大监狱中被判刑囚犯常见精神障碍的患病率。
在一所监狱中采用横断面调查研究设计。使用《迷你国际神经精神访谈问卷》从自愿参与研究的服刑男女囚犯中收集数据。使用研究人员设计的问卷收集社会人口学特征和犯罪史数据。
500名囚犯参与了研究。近一半（246人，49.8%）至少患有一种精神疾病。最常见的疾病是重度抑郁症和一系列焦虑症（分别为145人，29%；132人，26%）。较小比例的人在反社会人格障碍量表上得分较高（13%）；在访谈前12个月内，只有50人（10%）报告使用过毒品，但这只是此类问题的最低估计，因为当时许多人已经入狱。这些囚犯无论患有何种疾病，在监狱中均未接受过筛查、诊断或治疗。
本研究填补了低收入和中等收入国家关于监狱人群精神疾病学术文献的空白。进一步探讨所使用的国际认可筛查工具在多大程度上导致了对精神疾病的低估将很重要。这些研究结果在全国范围内具有直接的实际重要性，因为它们凸显了实施2012年新精神卫生立法预期改革以及跨部门合作战略以改善卫生服务及其在刑事司法系统中的利用情况的必要性。
