ResearcherID - CLICK HERE Scientific Journal Impact Factor (SJIF-2020) - CLICK HERE

TITLE:

DISTINCTION BETWEEN DEMENTIA AND COGNITIVE SYNDROME IN FORENSIC MENTAL ASSESSMENT - A STUDY OF PAKISTAN

AUTHORS:

Dr Syed Zamir ul Hassan Shah, Dr Nida Saeed, Dr Amen Ejaz

ABSTRACT:

Background: Few reviews have found a link among dementia and wrongdoing. Authors led an investigation of individuals who obtained the key or ancillary finding of dementia or a subjective problem in the measurable mental assessment. Methods: In Pakistan, approximately 550 legal mental assessments are conducted each year. All patients from April 2018 to March 2019 with a conclusion of dementia or subjective problem remained selected from database of the Pakistani National Board of Forensic Medicine. Out of 1478 patients, there were 59 patients of dementia or subjective problem. The case documents were studied and 19 patients of dementia and 5 patients of intellectual problems that could be analyzed in a clinical context were distinguished and examined in more detail. Results: There were 25 males and 6 females; the median age was 68 years (n = 23; range 37-79 years). There were 11 males, but no females had a criminal record. The 23 individuals submitted a total of 39 wrongdoings, most of which were brutal. The offences were reckless rather than deliberate in nature. According to scientific mental analyses, dementia was produced through the cerebrovascular problem (n = 5), substance abuse (n = 4), brain drain and alcohol (n = 2), head injury and alcohol (n = 3), Alzheimer's disease (n = 5), Parkinson's illness (n = 3), herpes encephalitis (n = 2), and vagueness (4). Out of four people who determined that they had an intellectual problem, one person also had a fantasy problem and another had a problem with insanity and alcohol requirement. An alcohol analysis was performed in ten cases. There were only two cases of dementia of the Alzheimer's type, one of which also had alcohol intoxication. None of these patients were determined to have a character problem. All but one had a history of substantial or mental co-morbidity such as head injury, stroke, other cardiovascular problems, epilepsy, discouragement, insanity and suicide tries. In this evil gathering, the recommended decision was probation in one case and various types of care in remaining 22 patients rather than prison. Conclusion: Few patients of dementia or subjective problems were distinguished through legal mental assessments. Entirely but one experienced an assortment of true mental disorders and illnesses influencing brain. Alcohol misuse was predominant. Keywords: Dementia, Cognitive disorder, Forensic psychiatric examination, Co-morbidity-alcohol-elderly

FULL TEXT

Top
  • Follows us on
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.