Published in:
Open Access 01-12-2009 | Research
Health-state utilities in a prisoner population: a cross-sectional survey
Published in: Health and Quality of Life Outcomes | Issue 1/2009
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Background
Health-state utilities for prisoners have not been described.
Methods
We used data from a 1996 cross-sectional survey of Australian prisoners (n = 734). Respondent-level SF-36 data was transformed into utility scores by both the SF-6D and Nichol's method. Socio-demographic and clinical predictors of SF-6D utility were assessed in univariate analyses and a multivariate general linear model.
Results
The overall mean SF-6D utility was 0.725 (SD 0.119). When subdivided by various medical conditions, prisoner SF-6D utilities ranged from 0.620 for angina to 0.764 for those with none/mild depressive symptoms. Utilities derived by the Nichol's method were higher than SF-6D scores, often by more than 0.1. In multivariate analysis, significant independent predictors of worse utility included female gender, increasing age, increasing number of comorbidities and more severe depressive symptoms.
Conclusion
The utilities presented may prove useful for future economic and decision models evaluating prison-based health programs.