Untreated ADHD common amongst male convicts

Men serving long prison sentences surprisingly often have a history of unrecognised and untreated ADHD, despite having had considerable problems since childhood. This according to a recent study published by a team of researchers from Karolinska Institutet in the scientific journal BMC Psychiatry. Working with the Swedish Prison and Probation service, the researchers conducted a comprehensive survey of the inmates of Norrtälje prison in order to ascertain the extent of ADHD and prepare the ground for trials of effective therapies. "We have discovered that inmates with ADHD have greater functional impairment and more obvious symptoms than a corresponding ADHD group in outpatient psychiatric care," says consultant psychiatrist Ylva Ginsberg, doctoral student at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience. In the present study, the researchers examined symptoms of ADHD during childhood and adulthood of 315 long-term prisoners. A group of 34 who indicated ADHD on a questionnaire survey were then put through a thorough diagnostic assessment. The results of the prison group were subsequently compared with those of 20 adult males with ADHD and 18 healthy controls, all of whom were examined at a specialist psychiatric outpatient clinic.