Paraphilias in adult psychiatric inpatients.
BACKGROUND
The goal of the present study was to examine the prevalence of paraphilias in an adult inpatient psychiatric population.


METHODS
One hundred twelve consecutive, voluntarily admitted, adult male psychiatric inpatients were administered the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Sexual Disorders Module, Male Version, to assess the rates of DSM-IV paraphilias.


RESULTS
Fifteen patients (13.4%) reported symptoms consistent with at least one lifetime DSM-IV paraphilia. The most common paraphilias were voyeurism (n = 9 [8.0%]), exhibitionism (n = 6 [5.4%]), and sexual masochism (n = 3 [2.7%]). Patients who screened positive for a paraphilia had significantly more psychiatric hospitalizations (P = .006) and, on a trend level, were more likely to have attempted suicide. In addition, patients with paraphilias were significantly more likely to report having been sexually abused than patients without a paraphilia (P = <.001). Only 2 of the 15 paraphilic patients (13.3%) carried an admission diagnosis of a paraphilia.


CONCLUSIONS
Paraphilias appear to be more common in adult male psychiatric inpatients than previously estimated. The study also demonstrated that these disorders were not screened for by the treating physician and thus may go untreated. Further, larger-scale studies are necessary in order to further examine the rates of these disorders in the general population.
Marsh
Patrick J
PJ
Department of Psychiatry, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33613, USA. pmarsh@health.usf.edu
Odlaug
Brian L
BL
Thomarios
Nick
N
Davis
Andrew A
AA
Buchanan
Stephanie N
SN
Meyer
Craig S
CS
Grant
Jon E
JE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015897:Comorbidity; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010262:Paraphilic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult