[Diagnostical challenges for medicine in prisons].

Due to the special conditions that prevail in prisons, there are specific health risks. Drug use and poor hygiene are widespread. Typical illnesses in prisons include skin diseases, infectious diseases such as HIV and hepatitis, and nutritional deficiencies. Mental disorders, self-harm, and harm to others are also common. Medical services in prisons-known as prison medicine-therefore face particular challenges compared to regular medical care outside prisons, especially in the area of diagnosis. This concerns, among other things, the assessment of fitness for detention, the indication of specific therapies (e.g., social therapy, addiction therapy, suicide prevention), and prognostic issues, for example in connection with the relaxation of prison rules and the associated risk of abuse by the prisoner. From a medical point of view, it must also be taken into account that aggravation, that is, the deliberate exaggeration of actual symptoms, and the simulation of illness can play a certain role. The article provides an overview of the diagnostic challenges, particularly from a legal perspective.