Prevalence and associated factors of common mental disorders among Prisoners in Kaliti Federal Prison: an institutional based crossectional study

Abstract Background In low-income nations, common mental disorders are now the second leading cause of poor health. It hurts a person’s health, family, job, and usage of medical services. The prevalence of common mental disorders among Kality prisoners is not well understood. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of common mental disorders and the contributing factors among prisoners in Kality prison, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out using a stratified proportionate allocation sample of prisoners at Kality Prison in Ethiopia. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with common mental disorders. The strength of the correlation between variables was calculated using the adjusted odd ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Result A completed questionnaire was obtained from 483 (98.9%) of 488 prisoners. Among prisoners, 54.5% had common mental disorders. In the multivariate logistic regression, good social support (AOR = 0.373, 95% CI = 0.206–0.678), moderate social support (AOR = 0.322, 95% CI = 0.151–0.687), prison diet (AOR = 0.472, 95%CI = 0.287–0.774), past psychiatric history (AOR = 2.167, 95% CI = 1.247–3.766), past self-injuring behavior (AOR = 2.117, 95% CI = 1.127–3.977), and comorbid medical illnesses such as epilepsy, and HIV AIDS, (AOR = 4.4, 95% CI = 1.474–13.068) were factors significantly associated with common mental disorders. Conclusions This study shows that common mental disorders are high in kality prisons. Social support, prison food, self-harming behavior, past mental illness, and comorbid medical illness were significantly associated with common mental disorders. The possibility of increasing social support would overcome the barriers identified in this study, as well as early screening, and continued risk monitoring to ensure preventing suicide.