Socio-demographic, clinical and offense-related characteristics of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional survey
Abstract Background There is still a lack of comprehensive research on the profile of patients in forensic mental health hospitals in China. This study aims to investigate the socio-demographic, clinical, and offense-related characteristics of mentally ill offenders in the Hunan Provincial Forensic...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Psychiatry |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04508-8 |
| _version_ | 1797945847410851840 |
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| author | Yu Gu Huijuan Guo Jiansong Zhou Xiaoping Wang |
| author_facet | Yu Gu Huijuan Guo Jiansong Zhou Xiaoping Wang |
| author_sort | Yu Gu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background There is still a lack of comprehensive research on the profile of patients in forensic mental health hospitals in China. This study aims to investigate the socio-demographic, clinical, and offense-related characteristics of mentally ill offenders in the Hunan Provincial Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in China. Methods This study was conducted from November 1, 2018, to January 30, 2019. The data of socio-demographic, clinical, and offense-related characteristics of the patients were collected. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS), and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scale were used to measure their psychiatric conditions. Results A total of 461 participants were enrolled in this study. Among them, 86.3% were males and 56.8% were unmarried; the average age of them was 44.7 ± 10.1 years, and the mean years of education were 7.51 ± 3.3 years. Before their current offense, a total of 345 patients (74.8%) had sought medical help for their mental illnesses. While 303 (87.8%) of these patients were prescribed antipsychotics, 254 (73.6%) failed to take them regularly. Of all the inpatients, 90.5% were diagnosed with schizophrenia; 385 (83.5%) engaged in homicidal offenses, with 54.0% of the victims being their family members. In homicide cases, the relatives were more likely to be victims of female patients. The mean length of stay in the forensic hospital was 8.02 ± 4.74 years, and over 80.0% of the patients had been hospitalized for over 5 years. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the profile of forensic patients receiving compulsory treatments in a forensic psychiatric hospital in China. These results add to the world literature on the characteristics of forensic patients and can help identify common treatment and risk-related needs of this population. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:01:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f6217ca41a0b4b988c2dd339a7a6819d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1471-244X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T21:01:36Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Psychiatry |
| spelling | doaj.art-f6217ca41a0b4b988c2dd339a7a6819d2023-01-22T12:21:09ZengBMCBMC Psychiatry1471-244X2023-01-012311910.1186/s12888-022-04508-8Socio-demographic, clinical and offense-related characteristics of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional surveyYu Gu0Huijuan Guo1Jiansong Zhou2Xiaoping Wang3Department of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South UniversityDepartment of Psychiatry, National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South UniversityAbstract Background There is still a lack of comprehensive research on the profile of patients in forensic mental health hospitals in China. This study aims to investigate the socio-demographic, clinical, and offense-related characteristics of mentally ill offenders in the Hunan Provincial Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in China. Methods This study was conducted from November 1, 2018, to January 30, 2019. The data of socio-demographic, clinical, and offense-related characteristics of the patients were collected. The Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Modified Overt Aggression Scale (MOAS), and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) scale were used to measure their psychiatric conditions. Results A total of 461 participants were enrolled in this study. Among them, 86.3% were males and 56.8% were unmarried; the average age of them was 44.7 ± 10.1 years, and the mean years of education were 7.51 ± 3.3 years. Before their current offense, a total of 345 patients (74.8%) had sought medical help for their mental illnesses. While 303 (87.8%) of these patients were prescribed antipsychotics, 254 (73.6%) failed to take them regularly. Of all the inpatients, 90.5% were diagnosed with schizophrenia; 385 (83.5%) engaged in homicidal offenses, with 54.0% of the victims being their family members. In homicide cases, the relatives were more likely to be victims of female patients. The mean length of stay in the forensic hospital was 8.02 ± 4.74 years, and over 80.0% of the patients had been hospitalized for over 5 years. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the profile of forensic patients receiving compulsory treatments in a forensic psychiatric hospital in China. These results add to the world literature on the characteristics of forensic patients and can help identify common treatment and risk-related needs of this population.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04508-8Mentally ill offendersViolent behaviorForensic psychiatric hospitalChina |
| spellingShingle | Yu Gu Huijuan Guo Jiansong Zhou Xiaoping Wang Socio-demographic, clinical and offense-related characteristics of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional survey BMC Psychiatry Mentally ill offenders Violent behavior Forensic psychiatric hospital China |
| title | Socio-demographic, clinical and offense-related characteristics of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional survey |
| title_full | Socio-demographic, clinical and offense-related characteristics of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional survey |
| title_fullStr | Socio-demographic, clinical and offense-related characteristics of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Socio-demographic, clinical and offense-related characteristics of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional survey |
| title_short | Socio-demographic, clinical and offense-related characteristics of forensic psychiatric inpatients in Hunan, China: a cross-sectional survey |
| title_sort | socio demographic clinical and offense related characteristics of forensic psychiatric inpatients in hunan china a cross sectional survey |
| topic | Mentally ill offenders Violent behavior Forensic psychiatric hospital China |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-022-04508-8 |
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