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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Research article

The relationship between education and health among incarcerated men and women in the United States

Authors: Kathryn M. Nowotny, Ryan K. Masters, Jason D. Boardman

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2016

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Abstract

Background

This paper contributes to research on the education-health association by extending the scope of inquiry to adult inmates. Not only are inmates excluded from most nationally representative studies of health but they also represent a highly select group in terms of both education and health. As such, our study provides new information about the health of incarcerated populations and it extends the generalizability of the education-health association beyond the non-institutionalized population.

Methods

We use a prison-level fixed-effects regression model with the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities (n = 287 facilities) to evaluate the effects of education on a standardized morbidity scale of 11 lifetime and current health conditions among incarcerated men (n = 10,493) and women (n = 2,797).

Results

Education prior to incarceration is negatively associated with lifetime health problems for both women and men and the association is stronger among women. Among inmates who enter prison with less than a GED level of education, attaining a GED in prison is associated with better current health outcomes for men, but not women.

Conclusions

The generalization of the education-health association among prisoners further highlights the fundamental nature of education as a health promotive resource. Discussed are the implications for the education-health literature in general and health promotion efforts among incarcerated adults specifically.
Footnotes
1
The models were estimated using different functional forms of age including age2 and age3. For women, the coefficient remain unchanged (−.016). For men, the coefficient reduced slightly from−.038 to−.029. Given this, the most parsimonious model is presented.
 
2
The sample size for this model is 3,498; 531 observations were dropped from the fixed effects model because the prison did not have variation in the outcome variable (current hypertension).
 
3
The sample size for this model is 390; 786 observations were dropped from the fixed effects model because the prison did not have variation in the outcome variable (current hypertension).
 
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Metadata
Title
The relationship between education and health among incarcerated men and women in the United States
Authors
Kathryn M. Nowotny
Ryan K. Masters
Jason D. Boardman
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2016
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3555-2

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