Comparison of medical care in prison and in general practice.

The medical care of prisoners "declaring sick" to the medical officer and hospital officers in Bedford Prison was surveyed and compared with the medical care given to the medical officer's patients in general practice. The consultation rate of prisoners was higher than that of patients in the practice. Part of this increase was because household remedies were not available to prisoners except through the prison medical service and part may also have been due to the stresses of life in prison. Few psychoactive drugs were prescribed in prison. The problems that prisoners presented reflected the problems of violence and poor hygiene in prison. Some problems that more commonly present in prison than in general practice may be related to stress.