Israel Zwerling

Mental Health Status of Prisoners in an Urban Jail

The mental health status of a group of 486 admissions to the Philadelphia Prisons was systematically examined in a carefully controlled study using multiple indices of psychopathology. In addition to measures of psychopathology, demographic information and descriptive personality and intelligence data were collected on all subjects. Subsets of subjects also received individual psychiatric interviews and psychological evaluations. The results indicate that approximately two-thirds of the subjects were identifiable by relatively stringent criteria as being psychiatrically disturbed and in need of specific mental health treatment services, and 34% were identifiable by all indicators of psychopathology used. Furthermore, 11% were in need of immediate inpatient psychiatric hospital care. Implications for treatment planning in correctional service settings are discussed.

Effects of a procaine preparation (Gerovital H3) in hospitalized geriatric patients: a double-blind study.

The effects of Gerovital H3 (a specially stabilized form of procaine hydrochloride) on geriatric psychiatric patients were assessed in a double‐blind study at Bronx State Hospital. The mean age of the subjects was 73 years and the average rating for the severity of organic symptoms was “moderate.” During the first six weeks of study, the patients were each given a 5‐ml injection of either Gerovital or placebo (saline) intramuscularly three times a week. This dosage was doubled to 10 ml per injection during the second six weeks. Nine Gerovital and 10 control subjects completed the first six weeks; and 6 Gerovital and 7 control subjects completed the entire 12‐week study. Objective rating scales were used to evaluate patients on measures of interpersonal functioning, cognitive ability, psychiatric symptoms, and urine and blood chemical findings. All subjects were assessed before treatment and at six weeks and twelve weeks of the study. Side effects were recorded at two‐week intervals.

Effects of transfer of chronic patients to a short-stay hospital

For administrative reasons, 143 chronic patients were transferred from a suburban state hospital to an urban short-term state hospital. They were compared with (1) patients similar in age, diagnosis, and sex who were admitted directly to the urban hospital, and (2) patients similar in age, diagnosis, and sex who were not transferred from the suburban hospital.The transferred patients were rated as more severely ill than patients in the other two groups, and a greater percent exhibit symptoms such as social withdrawal and isolation.Fourteen months after the transfer took place, 72% of the directly-admitted patients had been discharged, 35% of the transferees had been discharged, and only 5% of the non-transferred patients had been discharged. In addition, 23% of the directly-admitted dischargees had been readmitted, as compared with three and zero percent of the other groups. These results are discussed in terms of the interaction between acuteness and chronicity, and administrative discharge policies.