Prevalence of Mental Health Problems in Men and Women in an Australian Prison Sample: Comparing Psychiatric History Taking and Symptom Screening Approaches

Abstract

In an Australian survey of male and female adult prisoners (N = 1,132), two approaches to identifying mental health problems (symptom screening and self-reported psychiatric history) were compared. A higher proportion of women (77.7%) than men (61.8%) reported a prior diagnosis of at least one disorder. Almost half (49.8%) screened positive for current symptoms of mental illness. The proportion of symptom screen-positive individuals missed by psychiatric history ranged from 15.5% to 81.6%. To identify all potential mental health need and fully inform service development, future studies should consider a range of approaches to case ascertainment, although validation of new approaches is required.

Keywords:

• Prison mental health
• symptom screening
• health survey
• sex differences
• mental health need

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, including staff who undertook the data collection and data entry for this study. We also acknowledge the participants who took part in the study.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

Dr Korobanova and Professor Dean are funded by Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, NSW, Australia. The data collection for the study was carried out by health and research staff employed by Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network.