Abstract
There are more than 10 million prison inmates throughout the world and this number is increasing continuously. Prisoners are a particularly vulnerable minority group that has special healthcare needs and demands on healthcare services and providers. The aim of this study was to give an overview of prisoners' healthcare problems leading to emergency department admission, in order to make recommendations to help to optimise treatment of this target group. Our retrospective data analysis comprised adult (age ≥16 years) prisoners admitted to our emergency department, in transit to admission to our hospital-associated medical prison ward, between 2nd February 2000 and 30th April 2012. A total of 1703 patients were analysed. Of these, 78.2% (n = 1333) were male and 21.8% (n = 370) female. The mean age was 36.6 years (standard deviation 14.6, range 16-92 years). The most frequent reasons for presentation were psychiatric problems (43.4%; n = 739), followed by the need for medical treatment (31.6%; n = 539) and for surgical treatment (25.0%; n = 425). Patients with medical problems were significantly older than patients with psychiatric and surgical presentations (for both p <0.001). Patients with psychiatric problems were significantly younger than those with medical or surgical problems (p <0.001). A total of 130 (7.6%) of our patients were rehospitalised within the study period. Prisoners are a vulnerable minority group within our society with limited access to medical care. Transfer of information between the emergency department and prison staff should be promoted. Further research should be carried out on prisoners' healthcare problems.
Highlights
There are more than 10 million prison inmates throughout the world and this number is increasing continuously
The reason for presentation was extracted according to diagnosis and medical history; no International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 coding was used
We conclude that prisoners’ healthcare problems that lead to emergency department admission are rarely studied
Summary
There are more than 10 million prison inmates throughout the world and this number is increasing continuously [1,2,3]. A prison is primarily a component of the penal system and must ensure that the prisoners complete their sentences. This can lead to conflicts with adequate health care in this minority group [3]. Several studies have shown that between 65% and 81% of all prisoners suffer from one or more health problems [10, 11]. Older prisoners – like the “normal” older population – are expected to suffer from more health problems. Foreigners are even more vulnerable, as language barriers often make it difficult to achieve adequate medical care in prison, and health problems may be misunderstood for this reason [8, 14].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
