NCJ Number
66278
Journal
AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL Volume: 239 Issue: 25 Dated: (JUNE 1978) Pages: 2674-2675
Date Published
1978
Length
2 pages
Annotation
THE PRESCRIPTION RATES FOR ANTICONVULSANT MEDICATIONS WERE SURVEYED FOR 12,030 INMATES OF 10 STATE PRISONS, REVEALING A 1.9 PERCENT PREVALENCE OF SEIZURE DISORDERS AMONG THE PRISON POPULATION.
Abstract
THIS ESTIMATED PREVALENCE IS APPROXIMATELY THREE TIMES HIGHER THAN THAT AMONG MIDDLE-CLASS, NONPRISONER POPULATIONS. ANOTHER STUDY, OF 1,420 PERSONS ENTERING CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES, SHOWED 1.8 PERCENT DIAGNOSED AS HAVING SEIZURE DISORDERS. DATA OBTAINED FROM PRISONERS IN OTHER STATES INDICATE SIMILARLY HIGH RATES OF EPILEPSY. ADDITIONAL STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO DETERMINE WHETHER AN INCREASED PREVALENCE OF SEIZURE DISORDERS IS CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ECONOMICALLY DEPRIVED URBAN POPULATION FROM WHICH THE MAJORITY OF PRISONERS ORIGINATE. NO CURRENT STANDARDS ADEQUATELY PRESCRIBE THE PARTICULAR NEEDS OF EPILEPTICS WITHIN JAILS. THESE NEEDS INCLUDE ADEQUATE MEDICAL EVALUATIONS, KNOWLEDGE OF SEIZURE DISORDERS BY MEDICAL STAFF, AVAILABILITY OF SPECIALIZED SERVICES SUCH AS SCANNING PROCEDURES AND NEUROLOGIC CONSULTATIONS, APPROPRIATE HOUSING AND WORK ASSIGNMENTS, REDUCED INTERPERSONAL STRESS LEVELS, AND KNOWLEDGEABLE CORRECTIONS STAFF. CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONS SHOULD CONSIDER THE INITIATION OF COMPREHENSIVE DIAGNOSTIC AND TREATMENT PROGRAMS FOR INMATES WITH SEIZURE DISORDERS. STUDIES SHOULD BE UNDERTAKEN TO ELUCIDATE THE ETIOLOGIC FACTORS AND NATURAL HISTORY OF SEIZURE DISORDERS IN ORDER TO ANSWER SUCH QUESTIONS AS WHETHER CHILDHOOD SEIZURES PREDISPOSE UNEMPLOYABILITY AND SOCIAL REJECTION WITH SUBSEQUENT ANTISOCIAL OR CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR AND WHETHER IMPROVED TREATMENT DECREASES RECIDIVISM RATES. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED.