Open AccessHIV infection among male prisoners in South Australia, 1989 to 1994
Author(s) -
Seamark Richard W.,
Gaughwin Matt,
Owen Neville,
Liew Christopher
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-842x.1997.tb01757.x
Subject(s) - human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , demography , medicine , environmental health , family medicine , sociology
The prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in male prisoners in South Australia from July 1989 to June 1994 was ascertained from a repeated cross–sectional study. We also compared the criminological and demographic characteristics and histories of drug use of 39 HIV–infected prisoners and a randomly selected sample of 86 uninfected prisoners admitted at the same time. The numbers of HIV–infected prisoners in prison in any month ranged from 4 to 12. Prevalence among the total prison population ranged from 0.4 per cent to 1.4 per cent, and among the subpopulation of injecting drug users from 1.25 per cent to 4.36 per cent. Many HIV–infected prisoners continued after their diagnosis to have lifestyles that resulted in imprisonment. Infected prisoners were significantly older, had spent longer in prison and were more likely to be users of heroin (OR = 13.1) and methadone (OR = 25.4) than controls. Infection with HIV among South Australian prisoners has been continuous since at least the mid–1980s. The recidivism among many of the infected prisoners contributes to the variation in prevalence but also raises concerns about their management. Greater effort to minimise the recidivism of the HIV–infected prisoners could reduce the prevalence of HIV in the prison population. (Aust N Z J Public Health 1997; 21: 572–6)