Background: The psychiatric morbidity among prison inmates is substantially higher than in the general population. We do, however, have insufficient knowledge about the extent of psychiatric treatment provided in our prisons. The aim of the present study was to give a comprehensive description of all non-pharmacological interventions provided by the psychiatric health services to a stratified sample of prison inmates.

This study has demonstrated high psychiatric and somatic morbidity in a nation-wide population of prison inmates receiving adequate health services. As the morbidity estimates are inferred from prescription drug use they must be interpreted with caution. However, we do believe that our study, utilizing this unconventional but readily available source of information, has yielded valuable knowledge regarding the physical and mental health of a nation-wide prison population.