Half the Prison Population Has a History of a Chronic Medical Condition
Half the inmates in state and federal prisons and jails had a history of a chronic medical condition, and 40% had a current chronic medical condition, in a 2011 to 2012 inmate survey released by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
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While reports of current chronic medical conditions indicate inmates in need of healthcare services at the time of the survey, a history of a chronic medical condition provides a glimpse into the percentage of inmates who may need treatment again in the future, the report explained.
The most common chronic conditions were high blood pressure (BP), arthritis, and asthma. According to researchers, high BP, asthma, and diabetes were 1.5 times more prevalent in the prison population and 2 times more prevalent in the jail population than in the general population.
Chronic conditions were more common in women, the researchers found. Some 63% of women in prisons and 67% of women in jails reported ever having a chronic condition compared with 50% of men in prisons and 48% of men in jails.
Infectious disease rates were lower than rates of chronic conditions, with 21% of prison inmates and 14% of jail inmates reporting ever having an infectious disease such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, or a sexually transmitted disease other than HIV or AIDS. HIV/AIDS rates among prisoners, meanwhile, decreased from 145 per 10,000 prisoners in 2011 to 143 per 10,000 prisoners in 2012.—Jolynn Tumolo
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