The British Journal of Psychiatry (2006) 188: 159-164. doi: 10.1192/bjp.188.2.159
© 2006 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Psychiatric morbidity among sentenced prisoners: prevalence study in Iran

SEYED MOHAMMAD ASSADI, MD and MARYAM NOROOZIAN, MD

Department of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Research Centre, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran

MAHDI PAKRAVANNEJAD, MD, OMID YAHYAZADEH, MD, SHAHROKH AGHAYAN, MD and SEYED VAHID SHARIAT, MD

Tehran Institute of Psychiatry, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Iran

SEENA FAZEL, MD, MRCPsych

Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Correspondence: Dr Seyed Mohammad Assadi, Roozbeh Psychiatric Hospital, South Kargar Avenue, Tehran 13337, Iran. Tel: +98 21 5541 2222; fax: +98 21 5541 9113; e-mail: assadism{at}sina.tums.ac.ir

Declaration of interest None.

Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

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 treatmentchallenges that appear to be different from those observed in inmates in Western countries.


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