Revista Espanola de Sanidad Penitenciaria最新文献

Although the number of empirical studies on prison inmates in Latin America has increased in recent years, an aspect that still remains little studied is the situation of prison workers. This article analyzes the labor situation of prison officers in Latin America, and considers their working conditions, quality of life and the problems that affect them, in a region marked by precarious, overcrowded and violent prison systems. To do so, a systematic review of articles published in Spanish or Portuguese on the Scielo platform between 2000-2021 was carried out. Our main findings show that prison officers suffer from significant levels of stress and work overload; and carry out their work in poor conditions; with long working hours; performing an invisible and socially undervalued job; with important risks of negative consequences for their physical and mental health. Finally, some implications of the findings and some lines of intervention are discussed.

Introduction: Teledermatology is the application of new technologies for the care of skin diseases. Its application in prisons allows the diagnosis and treatment of prisoners without the need to transfer them to the hospital, avoiding the problems associated with travel.

Material and method: The objective of this work is to analyze the usefulness of teledermatology in prisons, through a retrospective observational study in the Castellón II-Albocàsser penitentiary.

Results: The study sample consisted of 37 patients and 43 interconsultations. All the consultations corresponded to men, with a mean age of 42.43 years. 95.3% of the consultations were asynchronous and in 86% of them a diagnosis and a complete treatment plan were established. Only 18.6% of the consultations required a face-to-face consultation.

Discussion: It is concluded that teledermatology in prisons is effective in the care and resolution of dermatological problems.

Objectives: To compare the factors and facets of psychopathy based on criminal characteristics in a sample of women in prison.

Material and method: Descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional study composed of a sample of 41 women incarcerated in the Ambato prison in Ecuador. In an individual session, the Hare Psychopathy Scale Revised was applied.

Results: Recidivist women, with a juvenile criminal history and who are admitted to the maximum-security ward, have a higher score in the affective facet of the PCL-R. In addition, those women who are in the maximum-security pavilion have scored high in factor 2 (social deviance), mainly in the antisocial aspect.

Discussion: This subgroup of women in prison is characterized by lack of remorse, emotional insensitivity, manipulation, inability to accept responsibility for their own actions, and superficial affection. Further expansion of the study of psychopathy in women is required.

Introduction: The aging of the world population is reflected in the penitentiary setting, with a progressive increase of elderly inmates. These prisoners present complex clinical processes with multiple comorbidities, and require a specialized approach. However, resources have not yet been adapted to the unique characteristics of this vulnerable subpopulation. The aim of this review is to highlight the relevance of psychogeriatrics in prison, detecting the most prevalent diseases and outlining the needs of elderly inmates.

Material and method: Narrative review through databases of those studies that analyze psychopathologies among inmates over 50.

Results: Elderly inmates present a high prevalence of substance use (especially alcohol), affective symptoms (depression) and cognitive deterioration. A significant presence of personality disorders, anxiety, post-traumatic disorders, psychotic disorders, and physical comorbidities is also observed, with rates higher than among young convicts and the general geriatric population. There is a higher prevalence for any diagnosis amongst women, mainly for affective disorders.

Discussion: Prisoners over 50 have a different profile from other prison population. They suffer from more physical and mental illnesses, and so require specific health and social approaches. It would be advisable to adapt clinical care by optimizing resources, developing prison psychogeriatrics and establishing specific assessment and treatment methods.

Objectives: Working with prison inmates involves constant contact with a stigmatized population, in hostile conditions where the working environment facilitates burnout syndrome among prison workers. The objective of this study is to carry out a bibliographic review to find pioneering and current publications, recognize the authors specializing in the subject and identify the most common findings of their research.

Material and method: The tree of science (ToS) reference search method was used, which applies an analysis of data networks to find the most relevant scientific articles on a specific topic, in this case burnout syndrome. This tool shows the results in the form of a tree, where the root is formed by the classic publications, the trunk for the ones that have shaped the subject and the leaves are the most recent articles.

Results: We found 140 published documents. The ToS selected 92 articles. The studies contained in the three parts of the ToS were analyzed; some of the determining factors were related to organizational structure, participation in decision-making, satisfaction and commitment to work, and lack of service and programs to help with depression or other mental conditions.

Discussion: Some factors related to the work that these workers do, combined with the organizational shortages present in prisons, impose stress that leads to burnout syndrome in these employees. To reduce the syndrome, structural changes are needed in the institutions, as well as the strengthening of personal and professional skills and the social integration of prison workers.

Objectives: This cross-sectional study was carried out to identify the associations between working and health conditions among prison officers at a state prison in Paraná, Brazil.

Material and method: A proportional and stratified random sample of 125 individuals was used. The participants, who were not identified, completed a self-administered questionnaire.

Results: The results showed a prevalence of minor psychiatric disorders (MPD) of 30.4% (95%CI: 22.4-39.2). A total of 17.9% of the respondents had persistent stress (95%CI: 12.2-25.2), 66.4 had up to five health-related complaints (95%CI: 58.4-75.2) and 9.6% had scores that indicated higher risk for alcohol abuse and/or dependance (95%CI:4.8-16.0). Multivariate analyses showed that with an MPD outcome, health problems (p<0.01), physical environment (p=0.013) and organizational risks (p<0.01) were significant predictors. Persistent stress was predicted by age (p=0.031), health problems (p<0.01) and organizational risks (p=0.023), while health complaints were associated with health problems (p<0.01) and physical environment (p<0.01). There were no significant predictors for higher risk for alcohol abuse and/or dependance.

Discussion: In general, the results demonstrate the precarious nature of the work of prison officers, and reveal the importance of further studies to evaluate whether this is a specific reality of the unit that was investigated, or whether these results are common in other prison environments.

Introduction: Oral health care directly impacts the well-being of incarcerated women. It is related to the quality of life, social and economic discrepancies and lack of access to programs that offer free dental services and health promotion for this population.

Objectives: This work aimed to understand oral health challenges faced by women incarcerated in Brazil and worldwide.

Material and method: The following databases were selected: EMBASE, (Virtual Health Library=LILACS+BDENF), Scielo, Scopus, Cochrane-Library and the PubMed search engine. These databases were searched until the closing date of October 2021 with no time limit for the searches. The key words used in the searches were "incarceration", "prison", "woman", and "oral health".

Results: Caries, periodontal disease, tooth pain, and the use of dental prostheses were the most prevalent oral health conditions amongst incarcerated women in Brazil and worldwide. Regarding the level of scientific evidence, the included articles fit level III, according to Melnyk and Fineout.

Discussion: Bearing in mind the limitations of the study, oral diseases in the global context showed that the quality of life related to oral and systemic health of women during and after incarceration was negatively affected. It is also essential for further clinical and follow-up studies to be carried out on incarcerated women that address their actual oral health needs.

Aim: Prisoners are at risk from a range of health related problems, caused by a number of factors. This study was conducted to assess the impact of incarceration on oral health among the prisoners of Haridwar District Jail, Uttarakhand state.

Material and method: A total of 573 inmates (534 males and 39 females) comprised the total study population. Oral health was examined with the Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth (DMFT) index, and by measuring pocket depth (PD) and clinical attachment loss (CAL).

Results: The age of the study participants ranged between 18 to 90 years with a mean age of 46.14 ± 15.29 years. The overall mean DMFT score was 5.40±6.49, with a prevalence of 77%. A significant difference (P=0.001) was found when the mean score of DMFT was compared to the period of incarceration, where the highest mean score was 6.97±7.69 for 5-10 years.

Discussion: There was a significant difference found for DMFT among inmates based on a period of incarceration. Gender and period of incarceration had no significant impact on the severity of periodontal diseases among jail inmates. Longitudinal studies are required to find out the causal association between incarceration and oral health. Comprehensive and timely oral health care is required for this vulnerable population.

Conclusion: The level of oral disease among jail inmates was high. There was a significant difference for DMFT among inmates based on the period of incarceration.