Major Depression and Psychiatric Disorders in Iranian Prisoners Based on a Clinical Interview: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Previous reports on the prevalence of mental disorders in Iran indicated a high prevalence of psychotic disorders in both male and female prisoners.
In this systematic review, we aimed to assess the prevalence of major depression in Iranian prisoners. We also used meta-regression and subgroup analyses to explore sources of heterogeneity in final enrolled studies.
Relevant studies published in English databases (PubMed, Scopus, Google scholar and ISI) and Persian databases (Magiran, Medlib, SID, and IranMedex) were systematically searched until August 2015. Heterogeneity was assessed by I2 statistics and using meta-regression to explore possible heterogeneity. The random effects models were performed for meta-analysis of the final studies using the Stata software version 11.2.
The pooled sample sizes included a total of 1708 prisoners. Data were meta-analyzed using random-effects models. The pooled prevalence of major depression was 42% (95% CI: 26.0% - 58.0%). Overall, 44% (95% CI 26 - 61) of male prisoners and 33% (95% CI 26 - 58) of female prisoners were diagnosed with major depression. Anxiety disorder had the highest prevalence (56.3%), followed by mood disorders (34.6%). Antisocial personality disorders were diagnosed in 24.0% of the participants and borderline disorders in 7.1%.
High levels of major depression are constantly reported in prisoners in Iran and the results of this study also confirm it. Further research can also be conducted to explore whether the prevalence of mental illnesses is high among prisoners in Iran.