Health News - Untreated ADHD common amongst male convicts

We have discoveredthat inmates with Add have greater functional impairment and moreobvious symptoms than a corresponding ADHD group in outpatientpsychiatric care, says consultant psychiatrist Ylva Ginsberg, doctoralstudent at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience.

In thepresent study, the researchers examined symptoms of ADHD duringchildhood and maturity of 315 long-term prisoners.

A grouping of 34 whoindicated ADHD on a questionnaire survey were then put through athorough diagnostic assessment. The results of the prison group weresubsequently compared with those of 20 adult males with Adhd and 18healthy controls, all of whom were examined at a specialist psychiatricoutpatient clinic.

The report suggests that as many as 40per cent of the inmates had untreated ADHD. The 30 inmates who, after amore extensive neuropsychiatric examination, were granted an ADHDdiagnosis had more pronounced symptoms and a much lower educationallevel than the outpatient ADHD group. They also performed lesssuccessfully than the outpatient and moderate groups on many of theneuropsychological tests that they performed, differences that remainedwhen differences in ability levels were controlled for. The researchersfound that the prison group grew up without adequate treatment andsupport for their functional impairments. Despite the fact that many ofthe inmates had needed extra support during their school years andcontact with the health services during their childhood and adolescence,only a small minority were examined for ADHD or other neuropsychiatricdisorders, and still fewer received treatment.

Drug abuse ismore common in mass with untreated ADHD, and in the present study allinmates with the diagnosis had had problems with drugs. The researchersalso found that other psychiatric diseases requiring treatment wereover-represented in this group, almost half of whom were on medicationfor psychiatric comorbidity. On examination, almost 25 per cent alsoreceived a diagnosis in the autism spectrum. They also met the criteriafor one or more personality disorders, of which the most common wasantisocial personality disorder. Psychopathy was rare.