Childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorders among adult patients in a Swedish special hospital☆
Introduction
Deficiencies in empathy, impulse control, and executive function are prominent features of childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorders and could entail an increased risk of criminal offending. Scragg and Shah (1994) found that 1.5% of the patients at Broadmoor Special Hospital in England fulfilled all six Gillberg and Gillberg (1989) research criteria for Asperger disorder. Two Swedish studies have reported high prevalences of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disabilities, and autistic traits in subjects of pretrial forensic psychiatric investigation Siponmaa et al., 2001, Soderstrom, 2002. In the general population, these disorders are more frequent than previously assumed. The most recent population-based study in Swedish school children showed that 0.6% fulfilled the criteria for autistic disorder, 0.48% for Asperger disorder, 1.1% for Tourette disorder, and 3.7% for severe ADHD Kadesjo & Gillberg, 1998, Kadesjo & Gillberg, 2000, Kadesjo et al., 1999, and that boys were overrepresented in all these diagnostic categories. To investigate the clinical relevance of the diagnoses in a forensic psychiatric setting, we have assessed all patients at Karsudden Hospital, the largest forensic psychiatric hospital in Sweden.
Section snippets
Screening procedures
Karsudden Hospital is situated 140 km southwest of Stockholm. The catchment area includes the cities of Stockholm and Göteborg and the province of Sörmland. Only patients considered to be difficult to treat in a general psychiatric setting are referred to Karsudden Hospital. The most common reason for referral is violent behaviour, and most patients are sentenced to psychiatric treatment for violent crimes.
Every inpatient at Karsudden Hospital on the census day (April 30, 1999) (n=100, 88 men,
Results
All 21 patients (19 men and 2 women, aged 19–46 years, median 27 years) in the diagnostic work-up were treated under the Forensic Mental Care Act and had normal or high intelligence according to the neuropsychological test results. Diagnostic outcome in our sample and in the cited studies by Kadesjo et al. is summarized in Table 2.
Discussion
This study showed that 10% of the patients at the Karsudden Special Hospital had a childhood-onset neuropsychiatric disorder severe enough to constitute the main treatment diagnosis. The recognition of these disorders is essential for adequate treatment planning and prognostics, and they should be considered in clinical assessments of adults in forensic psychiatry. The prevalences of these disorders were considerable among the patients. A reference group consisting of 7-year-old children is not
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The study was supported by grants from the National Board of Forensic Medicine and the Göteborg Medical Society.