교도소 재소자의 약물 및 알코올 사용에 대한 인구 역학적 연구

Epidemiologic Study of Drug and Alcohol Use among Prison Inmates

Objectives：This is the first epidemiologic study of drug and alcohol use among prison inmates in Korea. The purpose of this research is to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics and the proportion of drug and alcohol use among prison inmates. We also examine drug and alcohol-related problems among prison inmates. Methods：The subject of the study are 737 prison inmates in one prison, who are examined by the questionnaire. For studying drug and alcohol abuse/dependence, we use SCID to the questionnaire. To obtain the epidemiologic data, we include age, education, marital status, socioeconomic status, monthly income and occupation in the questionnaire. The drug and alcohol-related problem, experienced by prison inmates, such as physical illness, psychiatric symptom, car accident, violent behavior, and economic damage are also contained within the questionnaire. Results：The proportion of drug use among prison inmates is 27.1% which is about five times higher than our other research which is done among the general population in 1997. The percentage of all the narcotics, such as marijuana, opioids, cocaine and hallucinogen/PCP, is 11.7%. The proportion of alcohol abuse among prison inmates is 3.7% and that of alcohol dependence is 32.6%. In our other research, the point prevalence of alcohol abuse among the general population is 7.1% and that of alcohol dependence is 3.1%. The variables like depression, unemployment, hepatitis and violent behavior are found in high percentage of prison inmates. Conclusion：In this study, the percentages of drug and alcohol use among prison inmates are very high. Low socioeconomic status and low monthly income can be risk factors to alcohol use disorders in prison inmates. Somore detailed studies for adequate approach to prison inmates will be needed in the future.