Open AccessPrison health and public health responses at a regional prison in Western Australia
Author(s) -
Gilles Marisa,
Swingler Elysia,
Craven Corryn,
Larson Ann
Publication year - 2008
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.1753-6405.2008.00308.x
Subject(s) - prison , public health , indigenous , medicine , psychological intervention , population , environmental health , gerontology , psychiatry , criminology , psychology , nursing , ecology , biology
Objective:To describe the health of inmates in a Western Australian regional prison and evaluate the coverage of public health interventions.Design:Cross‐sectional audit of all paper‐based and electronic medical notes of inmates at one regional prison in Western Australia.Setting:A mixed medium‐security prison in regional Western Australia.Participants:185 prisoners, 170 men and 15 womenMain Results:The prisoners were mainly young (70% < 35 years of age) and Indigenous (84%). Fifty two percent of prisoners had at least one chronic health condition. There was a significantly higher prevalence of diabetes to that found in the general Indigenous population (15% vs 6% p=0.001), and a significantly lower prevalence hepatitis C (4.5%) compared with both national (29–61%) and State (20%) data. Screening for sexually transmitted infections and blood borne viruses within the first month of incarceration was achieved for 43% of inmates. Vaccination coverage for influenza (36%) and pneumococcal disease (12%) was low.Conclusion:This study makes visible the burden of disease and reach of public health interventions within a largely Indigenous regional prisoner population. Our study demonstrates that the additional risks associated with being Indigenous remain in a regional Australian prison but also shows that interventions can be delivered equitably to Indigenous and non‐Indigenous inmates.Implications:Ongoing monitoring of prisoner health is critical to take advantage of opportunities to improve public health interventions with timely STI and BBV screening and increased vaccinations rates.