Treatment for female patients with eating disorders in the largest medical prison in Japan.

The number of offenders with eating disorders in women's prisons in Japan has grown annually over the last 15 years. Women's prisons have experienced significant difficulties in the management of patients with eating disorders who have body-critical complications arising from low body weight, in addition to behavioral problems. Patients in Japan's 185 correctional facilities who display high refractoriness or who present a physical risk are transferred to the Hachioji medical prison, a national specialty hospital operated by the Ministry of Justice.

Eating disorders among patients incarcerated only for repeated shoplifting: a retrospective quasi-case-control study in a medical prison in Japan.

Background: Shoplifting is a serious problem among patients with eating disorders. For more than a decade, we have treated many patients with eating disorders incarcerated in Hachioji Medical Prison only for repeated shoplifting.

Methods: We analyzed the prison records and medical records of female psychiatric patients transferred to Hachioji Medical Prison between 2002 and 2011.