Common Mental Disorder and Its Associated Factors among Prisoners in North Wollo Zone Correctional Institutions, Northeastern Ethiopia

Background. Globally, about 450 million people suffer from mental disorders of which about 11% are assumed to be prisoners. The presence of mental illness among prisoners contributes to an increase in the risk of suicide, violence, morbidity, and mortality. In Ethiopia, there is a paucity of data particularly from resource-limited areas to assist policy maker’s efforts in reforming mental health care. Objective. This study is aimed at assessing common mental disorders and its associated factors among prisoners in North Wollo zone correctional institutions, Northeastern Ethiopia. Method. Institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 401 study participants from January–February 2021. A simple random sampling technique was employed to enroll the study participants. Structured interviewer-administered Self Reporting Questionnaires-20 (SRQ-20) developed by the World Health Organization was used to collect the data. Data were checked for completeness, coded and entered into Epi data version 4.2, and transferred to SPSS version 23.0 for final analysis. Binary logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify factors associated with common mental disorders. Statistical significance was declared at <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"> <a:mi>p</a:mi> </a:math> values < 0.05 in the final model. Results. The prevalence of common mental disorders was found to be 63.6% (95% CI 58.9, 68.3). After adjusting for confounding factors using multiple logistic regression, having children ( <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"> <c:mtext>AOR</c:mtext> <c:mo>=</c:mo> <c:mn>3.7</c:mn> </c:math> , 95% CI: 1.93, 7.36), poor social support ( <e:math xmlns:e="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"> <e:mtext>AOR</e:mtext> <e:mo>=</e:mo> <e:mn>6.6</e:mn> </e:math> , 95% CI: 2.93, 14.93), history of mental illness ( <g:math xmlns:g="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"> <g:mtext>AOR</g:mtext> <g:mo>=</g:mo> <g:mn>6.5</g:mn> </g:math> , 95% CI: 1.78, 24.3), one- to five-year prison stay ( <i:math xmlns:i="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"> <i:mtext>AOR</i:mtext> <i:mo>=</i:mo> <i:mn>2.6</i:mn> </i:math> , 95% CI: 1.38, 5.04), greater than five-year prison stay ( <k:math xmlns:k="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"> <k:mtext>AOR</k:mtext> <k:mo>=</k:mo> <k:mn>5.7</k:mn> </k:math> , 95% CI: 2.05, 16.27), experiencing one stressful life event ( <m:math xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7"> <m:mtext>AOR</m:mtext> <m:mo>=</m:mo> <m:mn>5.2</m:mn> </m:math> , 95% CI: 1.83, 15.01), experiencing two or more stressful life events ( <o:math xmlns:o="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M8"> <o:mtext>AOR</o:mtext> <o:mo>=</o:mo> <o:mn>7.3</o:mn> </o:math> , 95% CI: 2.98, 17.9), unavailability of reading materials ( <q:math xmlns:q="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M9"> <q:mtext>AOR</q:mtext> <q:mo>=</q:mo> <q:mn>4.3</q:mn> </q:math> , 95% CI: 1.63, 11.43), and greater than or equal to eleven years of sentences ( <s:math xmlns:s="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M10"> <s:mtext>AOR</s:mtext> <s:mo>=</s:mo> <s:mn>4.4</s:mn> </s:math> , 95 CI: 1.82, 10.70) were factors significantly associated with common mental disorders. Conclusion. Common mental disorders are highly prevalent among prisoners in this study area. The result of this study suggests the importance of screening and providing psychiatric counseling to this highly vulnerable population.