Abstract
The cross-sectional study assessed knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices toward COVID-19 disease of incarcerated people. A total of 685 subjects were surveyed. 94% were aware that respiratory droplets are involved in the transmission of COVID-19, and 77.2% that patients with chronic conditions are at risk of a more severe disease. Overall, 92.7% of respondents considered COVID-19 a more severe disease compared to influenza, and 85.4% believed that COVID-19 could cause serious consequences in their institution. Only 22.6% were self-confident about their ability to protect themselves from SARS-CoV-2 infection. This attitude was significantly higher in those who were involved in working activities in the institution, who did not report at least one common symptom compatible with COVID-19 in the previous 3 months, who did not show generalized anxiety symptoms, and did not need additional information. 63.9% of incarcerated people expressed willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccination. Older subjects, who knew that a COVID-19 vaccination is available, believed that COVID-19 is more serious than influenza, and were self-confident about their ability to protect themselves from SARS-CoV-2 infection, were significantly more willing to undergo COVID-19 vaccination. Public health response to COVID-19 in prisons should address vaccine hesitancy to increase vaccine confidence among incarcerated people.
Highlights
The cross-sectional study assessed knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices toward COVID19 disease of incarcerated people
26.7% of the respondents were affected by chronic diseases, 62.3% reported at least one common symptom compatible with COVID-19 in the previous 3 months, and 86.7% had undergone a screening test with RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection
As far as we know, this study is one of the few investigations that have explored in detail, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the perspective of incarcerated people as regards to awareness and prevention of SARSCoV-2 infection
Summary
The cross-sectional study assessed knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practices toward COVID19 disease of incarcerated people. Incarcerated people are a vulnerable population in respect to the risk of acquiring infectious diseases, including COVID-19, due to various conditions, such as overcrowding, confinement, poor hygiene, and reduced access to health c are[1] These conditions are to some extent shared with other institutionalized settings; the overall health of incarcerated subjects is on average poorer compared to the general population[2], and noncommunicable diseases, which have been associated to more severe COVID-19 complications, are the leading cause of mortality in prisons in many high-income countries[3,4]. In the US the COVID-19 case rate for people in prison has been estimated to be 5.5 times higher than the US population case rate of 587 per 100,000, as well as the crude COVID-19 death rate (39 deaths per 100,000 incarcerated people), compared to the US population rate (29 deaths per 100,000)[6], and 394,066 COVID-19 cases and 2555 deaths due to COVID-19 had been reported among
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