Differences between criminal offender versus non-offender female patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorder: a retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference between offender female patients (OFS) and non-offender female patients (NOFS) with schizophrenia spectrum disorder (SSD).The patients in this study were admitted to the university psychiatry in Zurich Switzerland between 1982 and 2016. Demography, psychopathology, comorbidity, and treatment differences were analyzed using binary statistics to compare 31 OFS and 29 matching NOFS with SSD. The Fisher's exact test was used for categorical data variables in small size samples and the Mann-Whitney-U-Test for nonparametric test variables, adjusted with the Benjamini and Hochberg method.The results indicate that the NOFS were cognitively more impaired, they were more likely to have had antipsychotic drugs prescribed (NOFS; 100%, OFS 71%, OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.13-1.77, p=0.022) and their medication compliance was higher (NOFS 84.6%, OFS 4.5%, OR 0.09, 95% CI 0.00-0.08, p=0.000). In contrast, the OFS had completed compulsory school less often and the were observed to be more often homeless and socially isolated (OFS 72.4%, NOFS 34.6%, OR 4.96, 95% CI 1.58-15.6, p=0.026), self-disorders (OFS 51.6%, NOFS 11.1%, OR 8.53, 95% CI 2.12-34.32, p=0.011), delusions (OFS 96.8%, NOFS 63%, OR 17.65, 95% CI 2.08-149.99, p=0.014) and substance use disorder (51.6%, OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.09-0.85, p=0.039). Clinicians treating female offender patients with SSD should focus more on the treatment for substance use disorder, medication and early recognition of the illness for preventative purposes.