title: Structured information exchange on infectious diseases for prisoners.
abstract: Infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, and sexually transmitted diseases are more prevalent in prisoners than in the general population. In Western European prisons, inmates have HIV infection rates 25 times higher and hepatitis C infection rates 40 times higher than their national averages. To inform prisoners about the dangers of these diseases, a structured information exchange was developed. In a pre-/post- design with repeated measurement, 21 male prisoners' knowledge of infectious diseases was analyzed. A significant improvement of knowledge (p < .0001) was observed. One striking finding was that knowledge of hepatitis C was clearly lower than that of HIV and that prisoners enrolled in drug substitution programs were significantly better informed about hepatitis C than the other participating prisoners.
authors.affiliation: Strafanstalt Schöngrün, Solothurn, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Flühmann
authors.forename: Max
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wassmer
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schwendimann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D011329:Prisoners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000150:complications / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult