Prevalence of Psychiatric Morbidity Among Inmates in Jos Maximum Security Prison

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of psychiatric illness in correctional settings is significantly elevated, with higher than community rates reported in most mental disorders. The prison is a correctional institution in which inmates have limited liberty, autonomy, and communication with family and friends. This can be devastating to some inmates thereby leading to dete-rioration in their physical, psychological and social wellbeing. The study was aimed to determine the prevalence of axis 1 psychiatric disorders and associ-ated factors among prison inmates in Jos, Nigeria. Method: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study carried out in Jos maximum security prison among 608 inmates. Two sets of data collection instruments were used namely (General Health Questionnaire) GHQ-28 and (Composite International Diagnostic Interview) CIDI. SPSS statistical software package for windows version 15.0 was used for data analysis and test of significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 347 (57%), substance use disorder was the commonest disorder found in 169 (48.7%). Psychiatric morbidity was sig-nificantly associated with age (P = 0.034) and prison status (P = 0.01). Conclusion: This study showed that there was a high rate of psychiatric disorders among prison inmates in Nigeria, which should be a concern to health care policy makers in the country. Recom-mendation: The establishment of functional psychiat-ric services with adequate manpower in prison will assist in the detection, treatment and correction of inmates.