Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and associated health and social vulnerabilities in older jail inmates

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To examine post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in older jail inmates, and to determine whether adverse social and health-related characteristics were associated with having PTSD symptoms.

Method: We performed an exploratory cross-sectional study of 238 older (age ≥55 years) jail inmates from a county jail. PTSD symptoms were determined using the Primary Care PTSD (PC-PTSD) screen. Reporting three or more PTSD symptoms was defined as a positive screen. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analyses were used to examine the prevalence of a positive PTSD screen and associations with social and health-related characteristics.

Results: The mean age was 59 years, 64% were Black, and 82% reported an annual income ≤$15,000. Nearly 40% of older jail inmates had a positive PTSD screen and 10% reported a prior PTSD diagnosis by a physician. Older jail inmates with a positive PTSD screen were significantly more likely than those with a negative PTSD screen to report medication insecurity in the past year, impairment in two or more activities of daily living, traumatic brain injury, pain in the past week, and poor self-rated health.

Conclusion: Over one in three of the older jail inmates in this study had a positive PTSD screen, though only one in five of those with a positive screen reported a prior PTSD diagnosis. Screening for PTSD in jails may help identify older inmates who would benefit from additional mental health treatment and reentry planning to improve health in this population.

KEYWORDS:

• PTSD
• incarceration
• geriatric
• health

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Aging [grant number P30AG044281], the Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation, and Tideswell at UCSF. These funding sources had no role in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. Drs Flatt, Barnes and Williams are employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The opinions expressed in this manuscript may not represent those of the VA. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the City and County of San Francisco; nor does mention of the San Francisco Department of Public Health imply its endorsement.