Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Disease profiles of detainees in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland: gender and age differences in substance abuse, mental health and chronic health conditions

Authors: Karine Moschetti, Pierre Stadelmann, Tenzin Wangmo, Alberto Holly, Patrick Bodenmann, Jean-Blaise Wasserfallen, Bernice S. Elger, Bruno Gravier

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2015

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Literature on the disease profile of prisoners that differentiates by age and gender remains sparse. This study aimed to describe the health of correctional inmates in terms of substance abuse problems and mental and somatic health conditions, and compare it by gender and age.

Methods

This study examined cross-sectional data from the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland on the health conditions of detainees who were in prison on January 1, 2011 or entered prison in 2011. Health conditions validated by physician examination were reported using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) version 10. The analyses were descriptive by groups of prisoners: the entire sample (All), Men, Older adults and Women.

Results

A total of 1,664 individuals were included in the analysis. Men comprised 91.5 % of the sample and had a mean age of 33 years. The other 8.5 % were women and had an average age of 39. Older adults (i.e., age 50 and older) represented 7 % of the total sample. Overall, 80 % of inmates were non-Swiss citizens, but the proportion of Swiss prisoners was higher among the older adults (51 %) and women (29 %). Overall, 41 % of inmates self-reported substance abuse problems. Of those, 27 % were being treated by psychiatrists for behavioral disorders related to substance abuse. Chronic infectious diseases were found in 9 % of the prison population. In addition, 27 % of detainees suffered from serious mental health conditions. Gender and age had an influence on the disease profile of this sample: compared to the entire prison population, the older inmates were less likely to misuse illegal drugs and to suffer from communicable infections but exhibited more problems with alcohol and a higher burden of chronic health conditions. Female prisoners were more disposed to mental health problems (including drug abuse) and infectious diseases. In terms of chronic diseases, women suffered from the same conditions as men, but the diseases were more prevalent in women.

Conclusion

It is important to understand the different disease profiles of prisoners by gender and age, as it helps identify the needs of different groups and tailor age-and gender-specific interventions.
Literature
1.
Justice M. Story of the Prison Population: 1993 – 2012 England and Wales. 2013.
2.
Rieder J, Gravier B, Bertrand D, Pasche C, Bodenmann P, Wolff H. Santé en milieu carceral Vulnerabilité partagée entre detenus et professionnels de la santé. Rev Med Suisse Romande. 2010;6:1462–5.
3.
Wolff H, Sebo P, Haller DM, Eytan A, Niveau G, Bertrand D, et al. Health problems among detainees in Switzerland: a study using the ICPC-2 classification. BMC Public Health. 2011;11:245.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
4.
Rosen DL, Hammond WP, Wohl DA, Golin CE. Disease prevalence and use of health care among a national sample of black and white male state prisoners. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2012;23(1):254–72.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
5.
6.
Fazel S, Bains P, Doll H. Substance abuse and dependence in prisoners: a systematic review. Addiction. 2006;101(2):181–91.CrossRefPubMed
7.
Wolff N, Frueh BC, Shi J, Gerardi D, Fabrikant N, Schumann BE. Trauma exposure and mental health characteristics of incarcerated females self-referred to specialty PTSD treatment. Psychiatr Serv. 2011;62(8):954–8.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Binswanger IA, Merrill JO, Krueger PM, White MC, Booth RE, Elmore JG. Gender differences in chronic medical, psychiatric, and substance-dependence disorders among jail inmates. Am J Public Health. 2010;100(3):476–82.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
9.
Parkes T, MacAskill S, Brooks O, Jepson R, Atherton I, Doi L, et al. Prison health needs assessment for alcohol problems. Edinburgh: NHS Health Scotland; 2011.
10.
Kissell A, Taylor PJ, Walker J, Lewis E, Hammond A, Amos T. Disentangling alcohol-related needs among pre-trial prisoners: a longitudinal study. Alcohol and Alcoholism. 2014;49(6):639–644.
11.
Etter JF, Ritter C, Christie DH, Kunz M, Rieder JP, Humair JP, et al. Implementation and impact of anti-smoking interventions in three prisons in the absence of appropriate legislation. Prev Med. 2012;55(5):475–81.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Ritter C, Huynh CK, Etter JF, Elger BS. Exposure to tobacco smoke before and after a partial smoking ban in prison: indoor air quality measures. Tob Control. 2012;21(5):488–91.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Clarke JG, Martin RA, Stein L, Lopes CE, Mello J, Friedmann P, et al. Working Inside for Smoking Elimination (Project W.I.S.E.) study design and rationale to prevent return to smoking after release from a smoke free prison. BMC Public Health. 2011;11:767.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
14.
Blaauw E, Roesch R, Kerkhof A. Mental disorders in European prison systems. Arrangements for mentally disordered prisoners in the prison systems of 13 European countries. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2000;23(5-6):649–63.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Fazel S, Seewald K. Severe mental illness in 33,588 prisoners worldwide: systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Br J Psychiatry. 2012;200(5):364–73.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Gisin D, Haller DM, Cerutti B, Wolff H, Bertrand D, Sebo P, et al. Mental health of young offenders in Switzerland: Recognizing psychiatric symptoms during detention. J Forensic Leg Med. 2012;19(6):332–6.CrossRefPubMed
17.
18.
19.
20.
Semaille C, Le Strat Y, Chiron E, Chemlal K, Valantin MA, Serre P, et al. Prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus and hepatitis C virus among French prison inmates in 2010: a challenge for public health policy. Euro Surveill. 2013;18(28). doi:10.​2807/​1560-7917.​ES2013.​18.​28.​20524.
21.
Iten A, Gravier B, Brenner E, Khelifa A, Beer D, Duflon JP. Epidémiologie et prévention des infections dans les prisons de Suisse romande (EPIPS): deuxième phase de l'étude: rapport final, 1er novembre 2001-30 novembre 2005. Fonds national suisse de la recherche scientifique (FNS), Service de médecine et de psychiatrie pénitentiaires du canton de Vaud, Département de psychiatrie du CHUV, Lausanne, (3346-64170) 322 p., 2005. https://​serval.​unil.​ch/​resource/​serval:​BIB_​2951CD93FE79.​P001/​REF. Accessed September 2015.
22.
Wilper AP, Woolhandler S, Boyd JW, Lasser KE, McCormick D, Bor DH, et al. The health and health care of US prisoners: results of a nationwide survey. Am J Public Health. 2009;99(4):666–72.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
23.
Walmsley R. World female imprisonment list. London: International centre for prison Studies; 2006.
24.
Walmsley R. World prison population list. 2nd ed. London: Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Director-ate, 2000; 2000.
25.
Williams BA, Goodwin JS, Baillargeon J, Ahalt C, Walter LC. Addressing the aging crisis in U.S. criminal justice health care. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2012;60(6):1150–6.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
26.
Hayes AJ, Burns A, Turnbull P, Shaw JJ. The health and social needs of older male prisoners. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2012;27(11):1155–62.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Dawes J. Ageing Prisoners: issues for Social work. Aust Soc Work. 2009;62(2):258–71.CrossRef
28.
Loeb SJ, Abudagga A. Health-related research on older inmates: an integrative review. Res Nurs Health. 2006;29(6):556–65.CrossRefPubMed
29.
Williams BA, Stern MF, Mellow J, Safer M, Greifinger RB. Aging in correctional custody: setting a policy agenda for older prisoner health care. Am J Public Health. 2012;102(8):1475–81.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
30.
Macdonald M. Women prisoners, mental health, violence and abuse. Int J Law Psychiatry. 2013;36(3-4):293–303.CrossRefPubMed
31.
van den Bergh BJ, Gatherer A, Fraser A, Moller L. Imprisonment and women’s health: concerns about gender sensitivity, human rights and public health. Bull World Health Organ. 2011;89(9):689–94.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
32.
World Health Organization WHO. Health in Prisons, A WHO guide to the essentials in prison health. 2007.
33.
Swiss Federal Statistical Office FSO. Privation de liberté, l'effectif de détenus au jour de relevé 1999-2013. 2014.
34.
35.
36.
Sprumont D, Schaffter G, Hostettler U, Richter M, Perrenoud J. Pratiques medicales de la médecine en milieu carcéral: Effectivité des directives de l’Académie suisse des sciences médiclaes sur l’exercice de la médecine aupres de personnes détenues. Document de travail, Université de Neuchatel, Faculté de droit, Institut de droit de la santé. 2009. www.​unine.​ch/​ids/​. Accessed August 2015.
37.
World Health Organization WHO. International Classification of Diseases (ICD). 2014.
38.
Carpentier C. Ten years of monitoring illicit drug use in prison population in Europe: issues and challenges. The Howard Journal of Crininal justice. 2011;51(1):37–66.CrossRef
39.
Gravier B, Benmebarek M. Enfermement et addictions : quelle place pour les soins? Dépendances. 2008;35:11-15.
40.
Torrens M, Fonseca F, Castillo C, Domingo-Salvany A. Methadone maintenance treatment in Spain: the success of a harm reduction approach, Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2013;91:136-141. Bull World Health Organ. 2013;91:136–41.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
41.
Réseau canadien d’info-traitements sida C. Le VIH au canada Tendnaces et enjeux qui affectent la prevention du VIH, les soins le traitement et le soutien. 2010.
42.
Réseau juridique canadien VIH/sida; Redoubler d’efforts contre le sida et pour les droits humains. 2010;15(1). www.​aidslaw.​ca/​revue. Accessed September 2015.
43.
World Health Organization WHO. The global plan to stop TB 2006-2015. 2006.
44.
Fazel S, Hope T, O’Donnell I, Jacoby R. Hidden psychiatric morbidity in elderly prisoners. Br J Psychiatry. 2001;179:535–9.CrossRefPubMed
45.
Fazel S, Hope T, O’Donnell I, Piper M, Jacoby R. Health of elderly male prisoners: worse than the general population, worse than younger prisoners. Age Ageing. 2001;30(5):403–7.CrossRefPubMed
46.
World Health Organization UNODC:. Good governance for prison health in the 21st century. A policy brief on the organization of prison health. 2013.
47.
Maschi T, Kwak J, Ko E, Morrissey MB. Forget me not: dementia in prison. Gerontologist. 2012;52(4):441–51.CrossRefPubMed
48.
Turner M, Payne S, Barbarachild Z. Care or custody? An evaluation of palliative care in prisons in North West England. Palliat Med. 2011;25(4):370–7.CrossRefPubMed
49.
Zurhold H, Stöver H, Haasen C. Female drug users in European prisons — Best practice for relapse prevention and reintegration. Hamburg: Centre for Interdisciplinary Addiction Research, University of Hamburg; 2004.
50.
World Health Organization UNODC. Women’s health in prison, Correcting gender inequity in prison health. 2009.
51.
Rowan-Szal GA, Joe GW, Bartholomew NG, Pankow J, Simpson DD. Brief trauma and mental health assessments for female offenders in addiction treatment. J Offender Rehabil. 2012;51(1-2):57–77.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
52.
Newma WJ, Scott CL. Brown v. Plata: Overcrowding in California’s prisons. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2012;40:547–52.
53.
Altice FL, Kamarulzaman A, Soriano VV, Schechter M, Friedland GH. Treatment of medical, psychiatric, and substance-use comorbidities in people infected with HIV who use drugs. Lancet. 2010;376(9738):367–87.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
54.
World Health Organization WHO. Mental Health in Prisons, Headquarters and the International Committee of the Red Cross. 2005. Information Sheet.
55.
Swiss Federal Statistical Office FS. Privation de liberté et exécution des sanctions - Données, indicateurs. 2013.
56.
Swiss Federal Statistical Office FSO. Survol des maladies infectieuses. 2011.
57.
Negro F. La lutte contre l’hépatite B et C est une urgence pour la santé publique en Suisse. Bulletin des médecins suisses. 2013;94(27):1073-74.
58.
Swiss Federal Statistical Office FSO. Prévalences de troubles physiques importants. 2011.
59.
Swiss Health Observatory OBSAN. Rapport de base sur la santé pour le canton de Vaud. 2014. Dossier 40.
60.
Bridevaux PO, Probst-Hensch NM, Schindler C, Curjuric I, Felber Dietrich D, Braendli O, et al. Prevalence of airflow obstruction in smokers and never-smokers in Switzerland. Eur Respir J. 2010;36(6):1259–69.CrossRefPubMed
61.
Swiss Health Observatory OBSAN. La santé dans le canton de Vaud, Analyse des données de l’Enquête suisse sur la santé 2007. 2011. OBSAN RAPPORT 46.
Metadata
Title
Disease profiles of detainees in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland: gender and age differences in substance abuse, mental health and chronic health conditions
Authors
Karine Moschetti
Pierre Stadelmann
Tenzin Wangmo
Alberto Holly
Patrick Bodenmann
Jean-Blaise Wasserfallen
Bernice S. Elger
Bruno Gravier
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-015-2211-6

Other articles of this Issue 1/2015

BMC Public Health 1/2015 Go to the issue

Research article

Systematic review of cigar smoking and all cause and smoking related mortality

Research article

Female unmarried adolescents’ knowledge on selected reproductive health issues in two low performing areas of Bangladesh: an evaluation study

Research article

Assessment of physical activity in older Belgian adults: validity and reliability of an adapted interview version of the long International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ-L)

Research article

Screening for pulmonary tuberculosis in type 2 diabetes elderly: a cross-sectional study in a community hospital

Research article

The influence of family history of Hypertension on disease prevalence and associated metabolic risk factors among Sri Lankan adults

Research article

The Healthy Migrant Families Initiative: development of a culturally competent obesity prevention intervention for African migrants