The prevalence of Epilepsy and its co-occurrence with alcohol dependence among polish prisoners

Abstract

Background For a large part of the prisoners population, the prevalence of many diseases and the number of risk factors are greater than for the general population. In this work, we present an analysis of the prevalence of epilepsy and its co-occurrence with alcohol dependence among prisoners in a Polish penitentiary. Methods One and multidimensional logistic regression was used to present the relationship between epilepsy and the co-occurrence of alcohol dependence and of other variables like: the prisoners’ age, their classification, the unit type, the length of the stay in the penitentiary, and professional activity. Results More than 7% of the prisoners had epilepsy. The prevalence was significantly higher in the 40–49 age group and among prisoners aged 50 and older. For prisoners suffering from alcohol dependence, the probability of epilepsy was over four times higher than for prisoners who did not suffer from that condition (OR [95%CI] = 4.09 [1.82–9.17], p = 0.001]. Conclusions The obtained results show that the prevalence of epilepsy and alcohol dependence in the studied prisoner population was much higher than in the general population of Poles and that alcohol dependence was strongly correlated with epilepsy, independent from other variables. The research allowed to assess the size of the analyzed problem among convicts, however, bearing in mind the multifactorial etiology of epilepsy, the cause and effect relationship between exposure to alcohol and its occurrence would require further in-depth analytical studies taking into account other etiological factors of this disease.

Epilepsy in inmate patients seen in a high complexity reference hospital in Colombia: A cross‐sectional study

“…9 However, it was lower than reported by Stawińska-Witoszyńska et al in their recent study in Poland in which patients over 50 years of age predominated. 13 There was predominance of the male gender (95.7%), which is consistent with papers published in this in Spain, with a amount of 94.8% out of the total number of patients. 2 In our study, the gender difference is explained by the fact that most prisons are only for men, and does not necessarily mean that the disease predominates among men in the general population, something which has been attributed to the higher prevalence of risk factors among men.…”

“…On the other hand, psychoactive substance use in our patients (17.39%) was similar to the finding in a study conducted in Poland (20.9%) in which alcohol was the predominant substance. 13 Neurological comorbidities were found in 21.7% of patients and non-neurologic systemic comorbidities varied, consistent with the profile reported in a high complexity German center. 22 The majority of our patients had one brain image (57.6%), a higher percentage when compared with the Polish study already mentioned, which reported that brain imaging was performed in less than 20% of patients, and brain magnetic resonance was performed only in 1 patient.…”

“…12 In particular, wine-related abuse was described in a Polish population and was found to be associated with a four-fold increase in the probability of suffering from epilepsy. 13 Epilepsy among inmates has been associated with a lower proportion of seizure control, possibly due to inaccurate diagnosis resulting in a lower proportion of assessments by specialists, and use of subtherapeutic doses of antiseizure medication. 14 Given this paucity of information and based on the assumption that there are gaps in healthcare, the objective of this study was to describe the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of inmate patients seen in a regional referral center in Colombia.…”

Audit of epilepsy healthcare provision in a large UK category B prison

“…Prevalence data for epilepsy in prison populations is mixed; Previous UK studies suggest the prevalence is the same as the general population [2,13] whereas data from other countries suggests an increased prevalence of epilepsy in prison populations [14]. We found an overall prevalence of approximately 2% in younger men; this estimate of point prevalence in the prison is therefore 3 to 4 times greater than in the general population.…”

Alcohol Promotes Lipogenesis in Sebocytes—Implications for Acne

“…Among conditions that are directly associated with the consumption of ethanol are cirrhosis of the liver, epilepsy, pancreatitis, hemorrhagic stroke, hypertensive heart disease, cardiomyopathy, myocarditis, endocarditis, ischemic heart disease, and various malignant neoplasms [7][8][9]. In addition to the well-documented negative impact of ethanol on human health, moderate and sensible use is associated with beneficial effects on atherosclerotic disorders and diabetes mellitus [10].…”