Abstract
Introduction: Prisoners are one of the most vulnerable groups for having high prevalence of mental illness. There is a dearth of major studies conducted amongst prisoners in Nepal. The basic objective of this study is to study prevalence and nature of psychiatric morbidity in prisoners attending general OPD of Central jail Hospital, Kathmandu.
 Material and Method: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study carried out in prisoners attending OPD of central jail for a period of six months. Initial screening was done with self- reporting questionnaire (SRQ) and those having distress on SRQ were interviewed and diagnosis was made based on ICD-10 DCR and data analysis was done using SPSS version 16.
 Results: A total of 121 prisoners out of 300 prisoners attending OPD of central jail hospital during a period of six months had been diagnosed to suffer from psychiatric morbidity. Majority of cases were within age group 26-30 years (20.7%) with male preponderance (76.9%), married (69.4%), educated up to higher secondary level (38%), doing occupation as labor work (24%), Hindus (62.8%) with janajatis (32.2%), having low socioeconomic status (51.2%), belonging to joint family (50.4%) and were from rural areas (45.4%). Murder was the most common offence committed (33.9%) followed by drug trafficking (28.1%). Most common primary diagnosis belong to Neurotic, stress related and somatoform disorder (57%) followed by mood disorder (32.2%). Most common psychiatric morbidity among prisoners was generalized anxiety disorder (36.4%) followed by Moderate depressive episode (23.1%) and somatoform disorder (9.1%). The overall prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in prisoners attending OPD of central jail hospital was found to be 40.33%.
 Conclusion: A substantial burden of psychiatric morbidity exists in prison population of Nepal. Prompt recognition and treatment of mental illness in prison lead to decrease in functional disability and better quality of life.
Highlights
Prisoners are one of the most vulnerable groups for having high prevalence of mental illness
A total of 121 prisoners out of 300 prisoners attending OPD of central jail hospital during a period of six months had been diagnosed to suffer from psychiatric morbidity
A substantial burden of psychiatric morbidity exists in prison population of Nepal
Summary
Prisoners are one of the most vulnerable groups for having high prevalence of mental illness. Common mental health problems are prevalent in prison. Systematic information on the prevalence and types of mental disorders in prisoners is scarce available data suggest that psychiatric disorders are fairly common in this population.[1] In many different countries, severe mental disorders have been reported to occur 5–10 times more frequently among people in prison than in the general population.[2, 3]. There is a high prevalence of poor mental health among young people in prison; 95% suffer at least one mental health problem and 80% suffer two or more.[4] A report has indicated that 87% of Asian countries have had increasing numbers of prisoners over the past decade.[5] Despite this, little is known about non-Western prisoners. A systematic review in 2002 only found three papers from non-Western societies, with combined sample of 326 prisoners.[2]
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