Mental disorders on admission to jail: A study of prevalence and a comparison with a community sample in the north of France

Abstract

Background. The aim of the present study was to estimate prevalence rates of psychiatric and substance use disorders in male and female prisoners on admission to prison in the north of France and compare the frequency of these disorders to the general population. Methods. This cross-sectional survey on Mental Health in the Prison Population (MHPP), conducted between March 2014 and April 2017, interviewed 653 randomly selected men and women who had recently been committed to the French general population prison system in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments. For each subject, the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), a standardized psychiatric interview, was used to screen for psychiatric and substance use disorders. The prevalence rates were then compared with data from the Mental Health in the General Population (MHGP) survey, a general population survey that used the same assessment methodology as MHPP in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments. A control sample was taken from the MHGP survey with a ratio of one case (MHPP) to three controls (MHGP) matching on age and sex. Results. The sample was primarily composed of French men, most of them single with low educational levels at the time of imprisonment. The mean age was 31.7 (standard deviation = 9.9; min = 18; max = 67). Most of the subjects included were first-time prisoners. The prevalence of affective disorders among newly incarcerated individuals was 31.2% with higher rates for major depressive disorder (27.2%). The prevalence of anxiety disorders was 44.4% with higher rates for generalized anxiety disorder (25.2%). The prevalence of psychotic syndromes was 6.9%. The prevalence of substance use disorders was 53.5% and a suicide risk was identified in 31.4% of the prisoners interviewed. Higher prevalence rates were found in the MHPP when compared with the MHGP for all psychiatric and substance use disorders assessed except for dysthymia and current isolated psychotic syndrome. Conclusions. Our study shows very high levels of prevalence for psychiatric and substance use disorders in recently committed French prisoners.

The prevalence of comorbid serious mental illnesses and substance use disorders in prison populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…We corresponded with the authors of 47 publications and received unpublished data on the prevalence of dual disorders for 14 additional studies (33 authors did not answer or could not provide data); furthermore, raw data for two studies are held by review authors and were reanalysed, resulting in unpublished data from a total of 16 studies ( figure 1 ). Overall, we included 50 studies with 59 samples reporting on a total of 24 915 individuals living in prison from 21 countries (Australia, 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 Brazil, 27 Burkina Faso, 28 Canada, 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 Chile, 35 , 36 China, 37 Ecuador, 38 France 39 , 40 , 41 [and French Guiana], 42 Germany, 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 Greece, 47 India, 48 , 49 Iran, 50 Ireland, 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 Italy, 55 , 56 Malaysia, 57 New Zealand, 58 , 59 South Africa, 60 Spain, 61 , 62 , 63 Uganda, 64 the UK, 19 and the USA 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ). Of the pooled total study population, 7612 (30·6%) of 24 915 individuals were women and 17 303 (69·4%) were men, the dual disorder data for 7509 (30·1%) individuals had not previously been published, and 11 studies (n=7010) were from low-income and middle-income countries ( appendix pp 7–8 ).…”

Psychiatric Hospitalizations of People Found Not Criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder in France: A Ten-Year Retrospective Study (2011–2020)

“…This phenomenon results in people with severe psychiatric disorders who have committed offenses being referred to prison rather than to psychiatric facilities. This is often considered one of the major causes of the high prevalence of psychiatric disorders observed in French correctional facilities ( 18 – 20 ). Our results indicate that this trend did not continue between 2011 and 2020, as the number of people found NCRMD has remained stable over this period, ranging from 263 in 2011 to 227 in 2021, with a minimum of 209 in 2014 and a maximum of 308 in 2012.…”

Prisons confinées : quelles conséquences pour les soins psychiatriques et la santé mentale des personnes détenues en France ?

“…Pour limiter ces réactions, de nombreuses recommandations insistent sur la nécessité de planifier des activités, de pratiquer des exercices physiques, de maintenir des liens sociaux ou d'entretenir une hygiène de sommeil, par exemple. L'accent est mis sur l'utilisation de réseaux sociaux, de sites internet ou d'applications mobiles pour un accès aux pratiques de relaxation et méditation [27]. Là encore, les mesures proposées apparaissent bien éloignées de la réalité du milieu carcéral et quasiment impossible à mettre en oeuvre pour les personnes incarcérées.…”

“…L'ensemble des aménagements pris pour limiter l'impact de l'épidémie de Covid-19 a eu des conséquences majeures sur le système de soins psychiatriques en milieu pénitentiaire. Celui-ci doit pourtant impérativement continuer à effectuer ses missions compte tenu de la prévalence élevée des troubles psychiatriques en détention [25,26] mais aussi des conséquences potentielles des mesures de confinement sur la population carcérale [27]. Cet article se propose de décrire la réorganisation des trois niveaux de soins psychiatriques en milieu pénitentiaire au cours de la pandémie de Covid-19 et d'interroger les conséquences du confinement et des libérations anticipées sur la santé mentale des personnes détenues.…”