Yigrem Ali, Neguse Yigzaw, Lulu Bekana, Semahegn Mekonen
Background: worldwide more than 10.1 million people are currently being held in penal institutions. Surprisingly those mental health problems are common in prisons because prisoners live with extensive surveillance, security controls in the absence of ordinary social interaction and abnormal environmental stimulus. They are more likely to be demoralized and victimized by the community and other prisoners. Therefore this study aimed to assess the prevalence of Common Mental Disorders and Associated Factors Among Prisoners in Debre Markos Town Correctional Institution, North West, Ethiopia, 2014.
Methods: Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted the research from April 28 - May 28. Data was collected by face to face interview. Data was coded and entered in to Epi-info Version 7 and was exported to SPSS version 20. Crude and adjusted OR were analyzed using logistic regression and the level of significance of association was determined at P- value<0.05.
Result: A total of 423 participants were interviewed with a response rate of 97.9%. The prevalence of common mental disorder was found to be 67.6%. Statistically higher level of common mental disorders was found among female prisoners than male prisoners (AOR=3.27, 95% CI: 1.05, 10.22). Divorced/ widowed (AOR=3.79, 95% CI:1.54, 9.30) and having history of mental illness (AOR=7.30, 95% CI: 2.96, 18.01), loss of loved one (AOR=3.03, 95% CI: 1.34, 6.85), relationship problems (AOR=2.07, 95% CI: 1.26, 3.40) and traumatic stress (AOR=2.02, 95% CI: 1.23, 3.37) were also found to be significantly associated with common mental disorders.
Conclusion: The prevalence of common mental disorders was high among prisoners at Debre Markos town correctional institution. Therefore, early prevention, detection and alleviating common mental disorder should be implemented in prison.
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