ULCER DISEASE AND THE LAW

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Abstract
Among 1,780 male persons with duodenal ulcer, gastric ulcer and ulcer dyspepsia without ulcer demonstrable by x‐ray, 737 (21 %) had been convicted of law offences. There were no differences among the three ulcer groups with regard to the frequencies of the different crimes or the percentage of persons in each of the groups. The percentage of persons admitted to a psychiatric department was higher among those convicted than in the material in general. The dominating psychiatric diagnosis among those convicted was psychopathy. Among patients operated on, the percentage of convicted persons was significantly higher than among those not operated on. Among 168 persons convicted for offences committed while under the influence of alcohol, the percentage of heavy drinkers was higher than in the material in general. Only 3.1 % of 771 women had been convicted for an offence. The observed frequencies of law breakers among the patients in the three ulcer group did not exceed the frequencies in the general population.

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