Preventive healthcare for underserved women: results of a prison survey.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to determine the preventive healthcare needs of incarcerated women in the following areas: cervical cancer and breast cancer screening, sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening, hepatitis screening and vaccination, and smoking cessation.


METHODS
A cross-sectional interview survey of a random sample of 100 incarcerated women at the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (RIDOC) in Cranston, Rhode Island, was conducted.


RESULTS
Participants were 62% white, 11% African American, 13% Hispanic, and 14% of mixed race. Mean age was 35 years. Of those surveyed, 67% reported having had a Papanicolou (Pap) smear in the past year, the strongest predictor of which was having received a Pap smear while incarcerated. Of the inmates >40 years old, 58% reported having had a mammogram in the past 2 years. The majority (88%) reported testing for STIs in the past, and 39% desired testing during their current incarceration. As for hepatitis C, 70% had been tested previously and 37% of those reported testing positive. Hispanics were less likely than whites to have been tested for hepatitis C (OR 0.1). Over half (54%) of the women who reported testing positive for hepatitis C also reported having completed the hepatitis A and B vaccine series. Among smokers (80% of all survey participants), 61% were interested in quitting. Those who had been incarcerated multiple times were less likely to want to quit smoking (OR 0.1).


CONCLUSIONS
Incarceration presents a unique opportunity to provide preventive healthcare to high-risk, medically underserved women.
Nijhawan
Ank E
AE
Miriam Hospital, Albert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02906, USA. anijhawan@lifespan.org
Salloway
Rachel
R
Nunn
Amy S
AS
Poshkus
Michael
M
Clarke
Jennifer G
JG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008603:Mental Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011314:Preventive Health Services / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011330:Prisons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012237:Rhode Island / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult