Comparing Mental Disorder Symptoms Among Male and Female Prisoners

[摘要] Background:Severalstudiesconductedaroundtheworldhavereportedahighprevalenceofmentaldisordersamongprisonersandsuggestthatsomementaldisordersaremoreprevalentamongfemaleprisonerscomparedtotheirmalecounterparts.However,alimitednumberofstudieshavebeenconductedtoexaminementaldisordersamongIranianfemaleprisonersandtocomparetheirresultswiththoseofmaleprisoners.Objectives:Themainfocusofthisstudywastocomparementaldisordersymptomsamongmaleandfemaleprisoners.MaterialsandMethods:ThestatisticalpopulationofthecurrentstudyincludedallmaleandfemaleprisonersinZahedancentralprison.Thesamplingmethodwasconductedsuchthatanumberofvariableswereevaluated,includingprisoners’citizenship,maritalstatus,homeaddress,highlevelofsupervision,andthetypeofcrimecommitted.Amongallprisoners,275individualsmettheinclusioncriteriatoparticipateinthisstudy.Therefore,todeterminethesamplesize,Cochran’sformulawasused.Then,afterapplyingasimplerandommethod(i.e.,sortation),160questionnairesweredistributedtomaleandfemaleprisoners.Tocollectdata,thesymptomchecklist-90wasused.Results:Theresultsofthemultivariateanalysisofvariance(MANOVA)indicatedthatsymptomsofsomaticcomplaints,depression,anxiety,aggression,andphobiaweremoreprevalentamongfemaleprisonerscomparedtotheirmalecounterparts,andonlysymptomsofparanoidthoughtsandpsychosisweremoreprevalentamongmaleprisonerscomparedtofemaleprisoners(P≤0.01).However,nosignificantdifferencewasfoundamongmaleandfemaleprisonerswithregardtoobsessionandinterpersonalsensitivity(P≥0.05).Conclusions:Althoughthenumberoffemaleprisonersisfarlessthanthatofmaleprisoners,theresultsofthisstudyrevealedthatfemaleprisonerssufferfrommorementalproblemscomparedtomaleprisoners.Therefore,providingmentalhealthservicesforthisvulnerablepopulationappearsessential.

[学科分类] 基础医学

[关键词] Mental Disorder;Prisoners;Prison