Self-Reported Substance Misuse in Greek Male Prisoners

The aim of this survey was to determine levels and severity of self-reported alcohol and drug misuse and associated physical and mental health problems in Greek male prisoners. The sample consisted of 80 randomly selected convicted and remanded male prisoners in a prison in northern Greece. The Mini...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European addiction research 2004-01, Vol.10 (2), p.56-60
Main Authors: Fotiadou, Maria, Livaditis, Miltos, Manou, Ioanna, Kaniotou, Eleni, Samakouri, Maria, Tzavaras, Nicolaos, Xenitidis, Kiriakos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Data Collection - statistics & numerical data
Greece - epidemiology
Humans
Male
Prisoners - psychology
Prisoners - statistics & numerical data
Research Report
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The aim of this survey was to determine levels and severity of self-reported alcohol and drug misuse and associated physical and mental health problems in Greek male prisoners. The sample consisted of 80 randomly selected convicted and remanded male prisoners in a prison in northern Greece. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to assess psychiatric disorders including substance abuse and dependence. All prisoners who participated completed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Those who reported daily use of opiates and stimulants completed the Severity of Dependence Scale (SDS). Information was obtained from medical notes about the prisoners’ hepatitis B and HIV status. The MINI identified 27.5% of the prisoners as dependent on opiates, 26.3% on alcohol and 73.8% as cannabis users, while 13.8% were misusing both alcohol and illicit drugs. Severity of dependence was rated, using SDS, as serious for all opiate and stimulant users. In terms of physical health examination of medical records indicated that no prisoner was HIV-positive but 26.5% were hepatitis-B-positive. Of those who had a previous history of substance misuse, 31.2% fulfilled the criteria for depression and 37.5% for antisocial personality disorder. Similarly, 15% of those misusing substances had a previous history of deliberate self-harm and 16% were assessed to have moderate to high suicide risk.
ISSN:1022-6877
1421-9891
DOI:10.1159/000076114