title: The health of older arrestees in police cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  detention in the harsh conditions of police cells can be a traumatic experience, even for young healthy individuals. It is thus legitimate to question the detention of elderly people.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  we aimed to determine the proportion of detainees over age 60, their medical characteristics and history.
  
  
  METHODS
  we studied all arrestees over age 60 examined in 1 year (1st January-31 December 2012) by physicians from our Department of Forensic Medicine in the Paris, France area. Our analysis included the arrestees' perceived health status and their opinion on custody.
  
  
  RESULTS
  individuals over 60 accounted for 211 of 13,317 detainees (2%) and were predominantly males (177 of 211, 84%). The most frequent suspected crimes included physical assaults (135 of 345, 40%) and drunk driving (50 of 345, 14%). A total of 111 of 211 individuals (53%) reported somatic disorders. A history of psychiatric disorders was reported by 23 of 181 individuals (13%). Arrestees considered their overall health as good in 60% of cases (111 of 184). They had a good opinion on custody in 45% of cases (120 of 270). A proportion of 40% (84 of 211) were examined several times during custody and 10% were declared unfit for custody (34 of 347).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  elderly detainees commonly have chronic health disorders; only a minority of them are unconditionally fit for detention. The continuation of detention, which affects 90% of arrestees, should imply that detention conditions are adjusted so that the specific needs of elderly individuals are taken into account.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Hôpital Jean-Verdier, Hôpitaux universitaires de Paris Seine-Saint-Denis (AP-HP), F-93140 Bondy, France.
authors.forename: Aurélie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beaufrère
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Hôpital Jean-Verdier, Hôpitaux universitaires de Paris Seine-Saint-Denis (AP-HP), F-93140 Bondy, France Université Paris 13, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Institut de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les enjeux sociaux (IRIS), UMR 8156-723 CNRS-INSERM-EHESS, F-93000 Bobigny, France.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chariot
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005554:Forensic Medicine / Q000379:methods; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016495:Police; D011329:Prisoners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: aged people; chronic disease; crime victims; forensic medicine; police custody