Health-state utilities in a prisoner population: a cross-sectional survey.
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.


CONCLUSIONS
The utilities presented may prove useful for future economic and decision models evaluating prison-based health programs.
Chong
Christopher A K Y
CA
Section of General Internal Medicine, Lakeridge Health Oshawa, Canada. caky.chong@gmail.com
Li
Sicong
S
Nguyen
Geoffrey C
GC
Sutton
Andrew
A
Levy
Michael H
MH
Butler
Tony
T
Krahn
Murray D
MD
Thein
Hla-Hla
HH
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009517:New South Wales; D011329:Prisoners; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult