The correlations between serum thyroid hormone levels, crime, impulsivity and aggression in high-security forensic psychiatry service patients

Year 2022, Volume: 5 Issue: 3, 174 - 181, 30.12.2022

Burcu Sırlıer Emir , Sevler Yıldız , Aslı Kazğan Kılıçaslan , Osman Kurt , Nevzat Gözel

https://doi.org/10.56150/tjhsl.1200321

Abstract

Objective: High security forensic psychiatry services (HSFP) are increasingly popular institutions in Turkey, since they play a key role in the follow-up and treatment of patients. Thyroid hormone is known to be associated with certain psychiatric diseases. We investigated the correlations between serum thyroid hormone levels, criminality, impulsivity and aggression in criminal patients who received treatment in HSFP.
Material and method: The study was conducted with 115 patients who presented in HSFP and met the study criteria and 115 healthy controls. Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Forms, Barratt Impulsivity Scale Short Form (BrIS-SF-11), Buss-Perry Aggression Scale (BPAS) were applied to all participants. Furthermore, serum TSH, serum free T3 and T4 levels were determined in the patient and control groups.
Results: The sT3 and sT4 levels were significantly higher in the patient group when compared to the control group (p<0.001). A negative significant correlation was determined between TSH and sT4 in the patient group (r=-.197, p= .035). There was no significant difference between the criminality based on the serum TSH levels (p>0.001). There was no significant difference between the TSH levels in the two groups (p>0.001). Furthermore, it was determined that BrIS-SF-11 sub-dimension scores and the total score, BPRS sub-dimension scores and the total score were significantly higher in the patient group when compared to the healthy controls (p<0.001).
Conclusion: It was observed that the impulsivity and aggression levels of the criminal patients who were followed up and treated in HSFP were higher. The present study demonstrated that serum thyroid hormone levels of individuals who committed criminal offenses could be associated with impulsivity and aggression; however, further studies are required for clarification.

Keywords

High security forensic psychiatry, thyroid hormone, impulsivity, aggression

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