Reliability of the Brazilian version of HCR-20 assessing risk for violence

Objective: Assessing risk for violence is a complex task often based on not objective or structured clinical evaluations. HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence has been used in several countries to increase the accuracy of this exam. The purpose of this study was to inform on central aspects of this instrument, as well as the results of the reliability assessment of the HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence in a Brazilian inpatient criminal population. Method: Two examiners independently assessed a random sample of 30 patients that were under criminal commitment at the Mauricio Cardoso Forensic Psychiatric Institute Results: Mean consensus values means were as follows: Historical = 13.1; Clinical = 4.8 and Risk management = 5.8. The value of the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient for the score of subscale Historical was 0.97, for subscale Clinical it was 0.94, and for subscale Risk management, 0.96. As to the individual items of the HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence, the result of the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was good to excellent (mean = 0.97; interval, from 0.60 to 0.99). Conclusion: The interrater reliability of the Brazilian version of the HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence scale was similar to the results of studies in other countries.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Reliability of the Brazilian version of HCR-20 assessing risk for violence

Objective: Assessing risk for violence is a complex task often based on not objective or structured clinical evaluations. HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence has been used in several countries to increase the accuracy of this exam. The purpose of this study was to inform on central aspects of this instrument, as well as the results of the reliability assessment of the HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence in a Brazilian inpatient criminal population. Method: Two examiners independently assessed a random sample of 30 patients that were under criminal commitment at the Mauricio Cardoso Forensic Psychiatric Institute Results: Mean consensus values means were as follows: Historical = 13.1; Clinical = 4.8 and Risk management = 5.8. The value of the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient for the score of subscale Historical was 0.97, for subscale Clinical it was 0.94, and for subscale Risk management, 0.96. As to the individual items of the HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence, the result of the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was good to excellent (mean = 0.97; interval, from 0.60 to 0.99). Conclusion: The interrater reliability of the Brazilian version of the HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence scale was similar to the results of studies in other countries.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Reliability of the Brazilian version of HCR-20 assessing risk for violence

Objective: Assessing risk for violence is a complex task often based on not objective or structured clinical evaluations. HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence has been used in several countries to increase the accuracy of this exam. The purpose of this study was to inform on central aspects of this instrument, as well as the results of the reliability assessment of the HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence in a Brazilian inpatient criminal population. Method: Two examiners independently assessed a random sample of 30 patients that were under criminal commitment at the Mauricio Cardoso Forensic Psychiatric Institute Results: Mean consensus values means were as follows: Historical = 13.1; Clinical = 4.8 and Risk management = 5.8. The value of the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient for the score of subscale Historical was 0.97, for subscale Clinical it was 0.94, and for subscale Risk management, 0.96. As to the individual items of the HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence, the result of the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient was good to excellent (mean = 0.97; interval, from 0.60 to 0.99). Conclusion: The interrater reliability of the Brazilian version of the HCR-20 Assessing Risk for Violence scale was similar to the results of studies in other countries.Facultad de Ciencias Médica

Prevalence of Mental Disorders among Prisoners in the State of São Paulo, Brazil

Objective: To determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the prison population in the State of São Paulo, Brazil.Methods: Through stratified random sampling, 1.192 men and 617 women prisoners were evaluated for the presence of psychiatric disorders by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview, 2.1 version, according to definitions and criteria of International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). the prevalence estimates of mental disorders and their respective 95% confidence intervals were calculated and adjusted for sample design through complex sample analysis.Results: Lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates differed between genders. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of any mental disorder was, respectively, 68.9% and 39.2% among women, and 56.1% and 22.1% among men. Lifetime and 12-month prevalence of anxious-phobic disorders was, respectively, 50% and 27.7% among women and 35.3% and 13.6% among men, of affective disorders was 40% and 21% among women and 20.8% and 9.9% among men, and of drug-related disorders was 25.2% and 1.6% among women and 26.5% and 1.3% among men. for severe mental disorders (psychotic, bipolar disorders, and severe depression), the lifetime and 12-month prevalence rates were, respectively, 25.8% and 14.7% among women, and 12.3% and 6.3% among men.Conclusions: This is the first large-scale epidemiological study performed with the prison population in Brazil, revealed high rates of psychiatric disorders among men and women. Many similarities, as well as some differences, were found between our results and those of studies conducted in other countries. the differences observed are more likely due to the peculiarities of the prison systems in each country than to the diagnostic criteria adopted in the studies. This fact reinforces the importance of conducting such studies as part of planning and development of appropriate policies for the particular mental health needs of specific prison populations.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Secretariat of Prison AdministrationUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychiat, São Paulo, BrazilSantos Catholic Univ, Santos, BrazilPorto Alegre Sci Hlth Fed Univ, Dept Internal Med, Porto Alegre, RS, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Psychiat, São Paulo, BrazilCNPq: 554553/200X-8Web of Scienc

Perception of coercion in psychiatric and nonpsychiatric (medical and surgical) inpatients

Duzentos e cinco pacientes hospitalizados em um grande hospital universitário foram avaliados, em estudo transversal, para a identificação de sentimentos de coerção no momento da hospitalização. A amostra compunha-se de 64 pacientes psiquiátricos, 58 pacientes cirúrgicos e 83 pacientes clínicos, tanto involuntários, quanto voluntários. A voluntariedade dos pacientes psiquiátricos foi determinada por seu status legal e, a dos cirúrgicos e clínicos, pelo caráter eletivo ou emergencial da hospitalização. Os pacientes psiquiátricos eram mais jovens, apresentavam nível educacional mais elevado e escores superiores na escala SRQ em relação aos pacientes cirúrgicos e clínicos. Esses grupos não diferiam entre si no que se refere aos escores em MMSE. O Admission Experience Survey: Short Form e as escalas utilizadas durante o MacArthur Coercion Study, foram aplicados a todos os pacientes. Os resultados indicam que os pacientes psiquiátricos, tanto involuntários quanto voluntários, apresentam significativamente maior percepção de coerção do que os demais. Os pacientes cirúrgicos e clínicos não diferem entre si, entretanto referem haver sofrido também algum nível de coerção, fato que poderia merecer uma atenção maior de bioeticistas e juristas. A análise de regressão logística indica que as variáveis associadas a hospitalização involuntária são Perceived Coercion Scale, estado cognitivo e escolaridade, todas com coeficiente de correlação positivo.Two hundred and five inpatients were cross-sectionaly evaluated in a large university hospital for the assesment of feelings of coercion at hospitalization. The sample comprised 64 psychiatric, 58 surgical, and 83 medical patients, either involuntary or voluntary. The psychiatric patients’ voluntariness was determined by their legal status, whereas the surgical and medical patients by the elective or emergencial character of their hospitalization. The former group was younger, presented higher educational level, and higher SRQ scores than the other groups of patients. All groups presented similar cognitive performance. The MacArthur Admission Experience Survey: Short Form and its related scales were applied to all patients. Psychiatric patients, either involuntary or voluntary, presented undoubtefully more perceived coercion than the others. Surgical and clinical patients did not differ on perceptions of coercion. However, nonpsychiatric patients also showed some levels of coercion and this fact could deserve the attention of bioethicists as well. The logistic regression analysis showed association of involuntary hospitalization with higher perceived coercion scores, and worst cognitive performance