title: Health-state utilities in a prisoner population: a cross-sectional survey.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Section of General Internal Medicine, Lakeridge Health Oshawa, Canada. caky.chong@gmail.com
authors.forename: Christopher A K Y
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Sicong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Geoffrey C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sutton
authors.forename: Michael H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Murray D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Krahn
authors.forename: Hla-Hla
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Thein
mesh_terms: 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