Current Health Conditions Research Articles

A life course approach to total tooth loss: Testing the sensitive period, accumulation, and social mobility models in the Health and Retirement Study.

Childhood socio-economic status (SES) has long been associated with later-life oral health, suggesting that childhood is a sensitive period for oral health. Far less attention has been given to the long-term impact of childhood trauma, abuse, and smoking on later-life oral health. This study fills the gap in the literature by examining how adverse childhood experiences-social, psychological, and behavioral-shape total tooth loss over the life course, with an assessment of the sensitive period, accumulation, and social mobility models from life course research. Data are drawn from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) merged with multiple HRS data sources to obtain childhood information (N=6,427; age>50). Adverse childhood experiences include childhood financial hardship, trauma, abuse, and smoking. Total tooth loss is measured to assess poor oral health in later life. Educational attainment and poverty status (since age 51) are measured as adult adversity. Current health conditions and health behaviors are assessed to reflect the correlates of oral health in later life. The sensitive period model indicates that childhood trauma such as parental death or divorce (odds ratio [OR]=1.37, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.04, 1.80), physical abuse (OR=1.17, 95% CI=1.03, 1.34), and low educational attainment (≤ high school; OR=1.52, 95% CI=1.04, 2.22) are associated with higher odds of total tooth loss in later life. Poverty status was not associated with the outcome. There was a clear graded relationship between accumulation of adverse experiences and oral health, which supports the accumulation model. In the social mobility model, older adults who occupied a stable disadvantageous position were more likely to be toothless (OR=1.77, 95% CI=1.08, 2.90) compared to those who did not face adversity in any case. Neither upward nor downward mobility mattered. Failing oral health in older adults, especially total tooth loss, may have its roots in adverse experiences such as childhood trauma, abuse, and low educational attainment. Findings also suggest that oral health in later life may be more influenced by accumulation of adversity rather than changes in social and economic position over the life course.

Multi-level metacognition for adaptive behavior

Abstract Behavior adaptation is an integral aspect for autonomous agents to survive in a world where change is normal. Animals change their foraging routines and socializing habits based on predator risks in their environment. Humans adapt their behavior based on current interests, social norms, stress level, health conditions, upcoming deadlines and various other factors. Artificial agents need to effectively adapt to changes in their environment such that they can quickly adjust their behavior to maintain performance in the changed environment. In this paper, we present a multi-level metacognitive model that allows agents to adapt their behavior in various ways based on the resources available for metacognitive processing. As the agent operates at higher levels of this model, the agent is better equipped to adapt to a wider range of changes. The model has been tested on 2 different applications: (i) a reinforcement learner-based agent trying to navigate and collect rewards in a seasonal grid-world environment and (ii) a convolutional neural network-based agent trying to classify the signals in a radio frequency spectrum world and separate them into known modulations and unknown modulations.

Organic Acids and Potential for Modifying the Avian Gastrointestinal Tract and Reducing Pathogens and Disease.

Recently, antibiotics have been withdrawn from some poultry diets; leaving the birds at risk for increased incidence of dysbacteriosis and disease. Furthermore, mortalities occurring from disease contribute between 10 to 20% of production cost in developed countries. Currently, numerous feed supplements are being proposed as effective antibiotic alternatives in poultry diets, such as prebiotics, probiotics, acidic compounds, competitive exclusion products, herbs, essential oils, and bacteriophages. However, acidic compounds consisting of organic acids show promise as antibiotic alternatives. Organic acids have demonstrated the capability to enhance poultry performance by altering the pH of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and consequently changing the composition of the microbiome. In addition, organic acids, by altering the composition of the microbiome, protect poultry from pH-sensitive pathogens. Protection is further provided to poultry by the ability of organic acids to potentially enhance the morphology and physiology of the GIT and the immune system. Thus, the objective of the current review is to provide an understanding of the effects organic acids have on the microbiome of poultry and the effect those changes have on the prevalence of pathogens and diseases in poultry. From data reviewed, it can be concluded that the efficacy of organic acids on shifting microbiome composition is limited to the time of administration, the composition of the organic acid product, and the current health conditions of poultry.

Disability and Health Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury: National Prevalence.

The aim of the study was to measure the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related disability and health status in the general population. The French National Survey, conducted in households and institutions, assessed 33,896 adults. Data included sequelae from TBI, impairments, current health conditions, and uses of health services. Analyses, adjusted for age and sex, compared subjects who declared sequelae from TBI (n = 479) with the remaining survey population (n = 33,287). Use of weighting factors ensured that results were representative of the national population. Prevalence of persistent sequelae from TBI in France was 704/100,000. Median time since injury was 14 yrs. For all Core Set items of the International Classification of Functioning, subjects with TBI reported more impairments than the control population: adjusted odds ratios from 1.7 (behavioral difficulties) to 8.6 (motor difficulties). Rates of cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal, digestive, urological, neurological, and psychiatric conditions were higher in the TBI population. Use of health services was greater, and women with TBI had higher rates of unmet health needs. Persistent sequelae from TBI significantly affect health in the general population. Planning of post-TBI care should address the chronic needs of these persons.

Assessment of orthotic needs in Iranian veterans with ankle and foot disorders

BackgroundWar-related traumas can lead to orthopedic and neurological disorders in victims. However, the scope of such disorders may expand months or even years after the trauma. Orthotic treatment as a rehabilitation process aims to enable people with disabilities to reach and maintain their optimal physical, sensory, intellectual, psychological, and social functional levels. This study aimed to investigate the rate of using orthoses among Iranian veterans with neuromuscular and skeletal disorders of the ankle and foot. Furthermore, the priorities of orthotic treatment in those veterans were explored.MethodsThis qualitative study was a national health needs assessment conducted in 11 provinces of Iran during 2011–2016. A stakeholder research group was established to survey the veterans in respect to their demographic variables, activities of daily living, current health conditions, and rate of using orthoses.ResultsOverall, 907 of the 1124 veteran participants completed the survey (response rate: 80.7%). Most of the veterans were men (97.7%), and their age and disability rate were 52.07 ± 8.13 years and 31.92% ± 14.93%, respectively. Nearly 42% of the veterans had experience in using orthoses on a daily and weekly basis. As physical ambulation was the main problematic activity in veterans, most of them were using medical shoes and foot orthoses. Nearly 37% of veterans were in need of some type of lower limb orthoses on the contralateral side to compensate for their hip inequality. In sequential order, the most in need orthoses for veterans were foot orthoses (n = 538), medical shoes (n = 447), lower limb orthoses on the contralateral side (n = 320), spinal orthoses (n = 273), and upper limb orthoses (n = 86).ConclusionsIn spite of the high demands for orthoses among Iranian veterans with ankle and foot disorders, the use of orthoses is insufficient. Hence, there is a discrepancy between the current rate of orthoses use and its ideal situation, and more resources should be provided for service providers to be able to serve veterans. Moreover, veterans should be educated regarding orthoses, their use, and their impacts on the user’s health status. The findings of a needs assessment of orthoses can be used in strategic planning and decision making to improve health care services for Iranian veterans.

Chatbot-based heathcare service with a knowledge base for cloud computing

With the recent increase in the interest of individuals in health, lifecare, and disease, hospital medical services have been shifting from a treatment focus to prevention and health management. The medical industry is creating additional services for health- and life-promotion programs. This change represents a medical-service paradigm shift due to the prolonged life expectancy, aging, lifestyle changes, and income increases, and consequently, the concept of the smart health service has emerged as a major issue. Due to smart health, the existing health-promotion medical services that typically have been operated by large hospitals have been developing into remote medical-treatment services where personal health records are used in small hospitals; moreover, a further expansion has been occurring in the direction of u-Healthcare in which health conditions are continuously monitored in the everyday lives of the users. However, as the amount of data is increasing and the medical-data complexity is intensifying, the limitations of the previous approaches are increasingly problematic; furthermore, since even the same disease can show different symptoms depending on the personal health conditions, lifestyle, and genome information, universal healthcare is not effective for some patients, and it can even generate severe side effects. Thus, research on the AI-based healthcare that is in the form of mining-based smart health, which is a convergence technology of the 4IR, is actively being carried out. Particularly, the introduction of various smart medical equipment for which healthcare big data and a running machine have been combined and the expansion of the distribution of smartphone wearable devices have led to innovations such as personalized diagnostic and treatment services and chronic-disease management and prevention services. In addition, various already launched applications allow users to check their own health conditions and receive the corresponding feedback in real time. Based on these innovations, the preparation of a way to determine a user’s current health conditions, and to respond properly through contextual feedback in the case of unsound health conditions, is underway. However, since the previously made healthcare-related applications need to be linked to a wearable device, and they provide medical feedback to users based solely on specific biometric data, inaccurate information can be provided. In addition, the user interfaces of some healthcare applications are very complicated, causing user inconvenience regarding the attainment of desired information. Therefore, we propose a chatbot-based healthcare service with a knowledge base for cloud computing. The proposed method is a mobile health service in the form of a chatbot for the provision of fast treatment in response to accidents that may occur in everyday life, and also in response to changes of the conditions of patients with chronic diseases. A chatbot is an intelligent conversation platform that interacts with users via a chatting interface, and since its use can be facilitated by linkages with the major social network service messengers, general users can easily access and receive various health services. The proposed framework enables a smooth human–robot interaction that supports the efficient implementation of the chatbot healthcare service. The design of the framework comprises the following four levels: data level, information level, knowledge level, and service level.

The Right to Health in Darfur: An unfulfilled promise

<p>The right to health in Darfur is an unfulfilled promise due to the armed conflict, the structural discrimination against Darfur, and the general weakness of the health sector in Sudan. The epidemiological profile of Sudan is typical of Sub-Saharan African countries. The Maternal Mortality Rate in 2006, in South Darfur, was 1,581, one of the highest in the world. Besides, an estimated 75 children under the age of five die every day in Darfur. For this analysis of the health in Darfur, we use here the already well-defined four categories of the right to health: a) availability (including availability of health facilities, human resources and health programs), b) accessibility (including referral system and humanitarian space), c) acceptability (including the debate related to traditional birth attendants) and d) quality (including the medical malpractice). All these aspects are presented in addition to the epidemiological profile of Darfur: health indicators and general causes of mortality and morbidity. The main goals of this paper are: a) to demonstrate the current health conditions of the population, b) to identify the gaps between the theoretical requirements of the right to health and the realities on the ground, and c) to remark the duty of the Sudanese state toward its population in Darfur.</p><p><strong>Published online</strong>: 11 December 2017</p>

Transgenerational Impact of Structural Violence: Epigenetics and the Legacy of Anthracite Coal

This project connects past forms of structural violence to current health conditions found in communities. Using historical and archaeological material from deindustrializing region in the United States, it appears that nutritional and livelihood stress in the late nineteenth century may have resulted in the transgenerational inheritance of negative human health outcomes experienced by descendants today. While more in-depth genetic research is needed, it is clear that the study of health disparities found today may be situated in the long-term stresses (environmental and nutritional) that communities faced generations ago. Historical archaeology is a way to develop a longitudinal study of health disparities.

Experimental program for physics-of-failure modeling of electrolytic capacitors towards prognostics and health management

Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) is a method used for predicting reliability of a component or system by assessing its current health and future operating conditions. A physics-of-failure (PoF)-based program on PHM for reliability prediction has been initiated at our institute. As part of the program, we aim at developing PoF-based models for degradation of electronic components and their experimental validation. In this direction, a database on existing PoF models for different electronic components has been prepared. We plan to experimentally determine the model constants and propose suitable methodology for PHM. Electrolytic capacitors are one of the most common passive components which find their applications in devices such as power supplies in aircrafts and printed circuit boards (PCBs) for regulation and protection of a nuclear reactor. Experimental studies have established that electrolytic capacitors degrade under electrical and thermal stress and tend to fail before their anticipated useful life at normal operating conditions. Equivalent series resistance (ESR) and capacitance (C) are the two main parameters used for monitoring health of such capacitors. In this paper, we present an experimental program for thermal and electrical overstress studies towards degradation models for electrolytic capacitors.

Evaluation of Community-Based Cessation Programs: How Do Smokers with Behavioral Health Conditions Fare?

Though persons with behavioral health conditions experience large disparities in tobacco use, questions about the efficacy of evidence-based tobacco use treatment remain understudied in community health settings. This evaluation examined outcomes from eight community-based tobacco cessation programs for participants with and without behavioral health conditions (n = 974 participants). The majority (64.8%) of participants reported one or more current behavioral health conditions, including mental illness and/or substance abuse. Participants who used cessation medication during the program and who attended more counseling sessions had an increased likelihood of being quit at 4-month follow-up. Quit rates were between 9.8% (intent-to-treat rate) and 30.6% (responder rate); behavioral health status did not negatively affect reported quit rates. Findings add to the growing literature evaluating community-based interventions within the behavioral health population.

State of health estimation and remaining useful life prediction of solid oxide fuel cell stack

Having concurrent information regarding the state of health (SoH) of an operating solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack can actively improve its overall management. Firstly, operating the SOFC by taking into account current health conditions, and its anticipated trend, can be beneficial to the total life span of the stack. Furthermore, such information can be of great importance to the maintenance staff, e.g. unplanned shutdowns can be avoided.Relatively little work has been done in the field of remaining useful life (RUL) prediction of SOFCs. The majority of work employs stack/cell voltage as a direct link for RUL predictions. This paper proposes an integrated approach for SoH estimation based on stack’s Ohmic area specific resistance (ASR). Subsequently, a drift model that describes the ASR increase over time enables accurate RUL prediction. The approach consists of three steps. Firstly, an Unscented Kalman filter, based on a lumped stack model, estimates the current ASR value. Secondly, a drift model for describing the temporal evolution in ASR is recursively identified employing the linear Kalman filter. Finally, employing the identified drift model, Monte Carlo simulation is performed to predict future time evolution in ASR and so to obtain RUL. The developed approach is validated with experimental data from a 10kW SOFC power system. The results confirm that ASR is a viable SoH indicator for the SOFC stack.

Transfemoral Prosthetic Overview for Surgeons

A general overview of transfemoral prosthetics is presented to improve collaboration and optimize patient outcomes. Incorporating the rehabilitation team including physical therapist, prosthetist, and counselors into the perioperative phases helps prepare the patient for prosthetic treatment and reduces the potential for unnecessary delays in treatment. Surgically creating ideal transfemoral residual limbs improves patient outcomes. Compliant documentation of healing, current health conditions and preparedness for prosthetic treatment is critical to support the prosthetic treatment plan. Understanding transfemoral socket designs, suspensions, knee joint and foot technology is required to develop the proper treatment plan and itemized prescription. Anticipated physiological residuum changes and functional improvements require prosthetic follow-up to maximize the fit and function of the prosthesis throughout the rehabilitation process. Ongoing surgeon follow-up versus early referral back to primary care or physical medicine and rehabilitation changes who sees and understands the patient’s long-term surgical and prosthetic outcomes. Surgical and prosthetic improvements in the future are made more exciting when paired with increased collaboration between the specialties.

The Relationship between Public Long-Term Care Insurance Awareness and Preparation for Later Life in South Korea

ABSTRACTAn increased focus on individual preparation for later life paired with a shift in family support within South Korea makes it necessary to study factors that influence preparation for later life among South Korean adults. This study examined whether the awareness of public long-term care insurance (LTCI) was related to South Koreans' financial, psychosocial, and physical preparations for later life. Data from the third wave (2009) and third supplement wave (2010) of the Korean Retirement and Income Study (KReIS) yielded a sample of 2,487 middle-aged adults. Multiple regression analyses were used to compare the influence of the awareness of public LTCI on financial, psychosocial, and physical preparation by dividing the sample into negative status and positive status groups based on subjective perceptions of current economic, relationship, and health conditions. The results showed that being aware of public LTCI increased preparation for later life in financial, psychosocial, and physical domains. In addition, participants in the negative status group had higher scores for psychosocial and physical preparation than individuals who perceived themselves as being in relatively better situations. These findings suggest that the policy makers and practitioners should include education on LTCI and the risks it targets across various preparation domains as well as account for differences in perception and preparation among sub-populations of middle-aged adults in order to ensure effective social policies for the elderly population.

When Emotional Pain Becomes Physical: Adverse Childhood Experiences, Pain, and the Role of Mood and Anxiety Disorders.

We examined the association between retrospective reports of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and painful medical conditions. We also examined the mediating and moderating roles of mood and anxiety disorders in the ACEs-painful medical conditions relationship. Ten-year longitudinal data were obtained from the National Comorbidity Surveys (NCS-1, NCS-2; N = 5001). The NCS-1 obtained reports of ACEs, current health conditions, current pain severity, and mood and anxiety disorders. The NCS-2 assessed for painful medical conditions (e.g., arthritis/rheumatism, chronic back/neck problems, severe headaches, other chronic pain). Specific ACEs (e.g., verbal and sexual abuse, parental psychopathology, and early parental loss) were associated with the painful medical conditions. Baseline measures of depression, bipolar disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder were also associated with the number of painful medical conditions. Anxiety and mood disorders were found to partially mediate the ACEs-painful medical conditions relationship. We determined through mediation analyses that ACEs were linked to an increase in anxiety and mood disorders, which, in turn, were associated with an increase in the number of painful medical conditions. We determined through moderation analyses that ACEs had an effect on increasing the painful medical conditions at both high and low levels of anxiety and mood disorders; though, surprisingly, the effect was greater among participants at lower levels of mood and anxiety disorders. There are pernicious effects of ACEs across mental and physical domains. Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress response and the theory of reserve capacity are reviewed to integrate our findings of the complex relationships.

Assessing the Relationship between Current Mental Health, Health Conditions,and Activity Limitations in Veterans Aged 25 and Older in the General Population

Purpose: Many veterans face difficulties related to physical and mental health issues, but little is known about how these are related within veterans in the general population. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between current mental health, health problems, and activity limitations in population-based samples of veterans aged 25 years and older. Methods: This cross sectional analysis used 2015 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) for veterans aged 25 and older from Oklahoma, Virginia, and Washington. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between current mental health, health conditions, and activity limitations after controlling alcohol use and demographic variables. Results: Across states, most veterans aged 25 and older reported good current mental health (77-81%), about half reported 3 or more health conditions (40-54%), and about one-fourth reported activity limitations (17-28%). After controlling for alcohol use and demographic factors, good current mental health was inversely related to health conditions and activity limitations in all three states with moderate to high effect sizes. Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that current mental health among veterans aged 25 years and older in general populations is significantly related to health conditions, activity limitations, and gender. Because of moderate to high relations, primary care practitioners should screen for mental health, health conditions, and activity limitations if a veteran, especially a female veteran, presents with any of these, and then educate, treat, and provide referral services as comorbid conditions versus separate issues.

A snapshot of environmental health conditions among indigenous baram communities at borneo, Sarawak

Background: This paper outlines the environmental health conditions arising from the synergistic effect of the rampant human activities (illegal logging and rapid expansion of oil palm plantations) that are exploiting the nature resources without proper planning. This led to the unsolved health problem caused by multifaceted of hazards among the remote indigenous Baram communities at Borneo, Sarawak. Methodology: This is an observational survey, which conducted in two phases, that is, June 2014 and January 2016. A random sampling of locations from the downstream and reservoir zones of the Baram River were selected for site surveillance. A total of 10 indigenous villages were visited and 3 main populations of affected indigenous people (Kayan, Kenyah, and Penan) were recruited for short interviews. Result: The result showed that at least 80% of the interviewed villagers held clear views on the identified environmental hazards; however, site surveillance to review the environmental health conditions of their living area showed that the health of the indigenous community is in the vulnerable and precarious conditions. Discussion and Conclusion: This observational survey provides insights of the current environmental health conditions among the remote aboriginal communities at Borneo Island. The data provides a detailed picture of the state of environmental health conditions and discuss the potential health consequences among the indigenous communities across Baram communities.

The Impact of Comorbidities, Depression, and Substance Use Problems on Quality of Life Among Older Adults Living With HIV.

Older adults living with HIV (OALWH) comprise a growing population with a range of complex and interconnecting medical and psychosocial needs. Based on the biopsychosocial model with its emphasis on a holistic approach to various aspects of people's lives, the current study explored associations between physical health, psychological health, substance use, and overall quality of life. Drawing on data from 114 substance-using OALWH (aged 50 or older), we employed linear regression to show associations between the number of current comorbid health conditions on quality of life, over and above depression, substance use problems, and demographic characteristics (age, race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, education, and relationship status). In both bivariate and multivariable contexts, the number of comorbid conditions was associated with reduced quality of life. Depression and substance use were also negatively associated with quality of life. These findings indicate that clinical and supportive care for OALWH, particularly when related to mental health and substance use, should also include an integrated focus on the comparatively high number of current comorbid conditions that often accompany, and potentially complicate, HIV treatment and quality of life.

A Shared Decision-Making System for Diabetes Medication Choice Utilizing Electronic Health Record Data.

The use of a shared decision-making (SDM) process in antihyperglycemic medication strategy decisions is necessary due to the complexity of the conditions of diabetes patients. Knowledge of guidelines is used as decision aids in clinical situations, and during this process, no patient health conditions are considered. In this paper, we propose an SDM system framework for type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients that not only contains knowledge abstracted from guidelines but also employs a multilabel classification model that uses class-imbalanced electronic health record (EHR) data and that aims to provide a recommended list of available antihyperglycemic medications to help physicians and patients have an SDM conversation. The use of EHR data to serve as a decision-support component in decision aids helps physicians and patients to reach a more intuitive understanding of current health conditions and allows the tailoring of the available knowledge to each patient, leading to a more effective SDM. Real-world data from 2542 T2DM inpatient EHRs were substituted by 77 features and eight output labels, i.e., eight antihyperglycemic medications, and these data were utilized to build and validate the recommendation model. The multilabel recommendation model exhibited stable performance in every single-label classification and showed the ability to predict minority positive cases in which the average recall value of the eight classes was 0.9898. As a whole multilabel classifier, the recommendation model demonstrated outstanding performance, with scores of 0.0941 for Hamming Loss, 0.7611 for Accuracyexam, 0.9664 for Recallexam, and 0.8269 for Fexam.

Exposure to the Chinese famine of 1959–61 in early life and current health conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundMany middle-aged Chinese people have experienced the Great Leap Forward Famine of 1959–61, which could have profound long-term health consequences for exposed birth cohorts. We undertook a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarise reported famine effects on long-term health. MethodsWe searched PubMed, Embase, Chinese Wanfang Data, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases up to December, 2015, for health outcomes related to the Chinese famine, with the keywords “China”, “famine”, “undernutrition”, “Chinese famine”, “Great Leap Forward”, and “Great famine”, and the MESH terms “starvation” or “malnutrition” combined with “China” or “Chinese”. We compared outcomes in famine births and unexposed controls. We used fixed-effects models and random-effects models to combine reports of adult overweight, obesity, type 2 diabetes, hyperglycaemia, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and schizophrenia. We assessed heterogeneity across reports. We did subgroup analyses by reported famine severity, provincial mortality during famine, and sex. FindingsOf 3976 records identified, 36 reports met our inclusion criteria and 21 could be used for pooled meta-analysis. The number of analysed events ranged from 1029 for hyperglycemia to 9248 for hypertension. As reported by others, type 2 diabetes, hyperglycaemia, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and schizophrenia were more common among adults born in the famine years than among controls born after the famine. By contrast, there were no increases in type 2 diabetes (odds ratio 0·96, 95% CI 0·73–1·28), hyperglycaemia (0·99, 0·72–1·36), hypertension (0·93, 0·82–1·04), or metabolic syndrome (1·11, 1·00–1·22) comparing adults born in the famine years with controls born either after or before the famine combined. For schizophrenia, the effect estimates (odds ratio 1·60, 95% CI 1·50–1·70, combining controls) were similar in the two scenarios. InterpretationUncontrolled age differences between famine and post-famine births could explain most effects commonly attributed to the famine. Further studies with better controls for age, famine severity, and sex are needed to obtain reliable estimates of long-term famine effects in China. FundingNone.

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

BackgroundThis 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.MethodsWe 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).ResultsEducation 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.ConclusionsThe 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.