Table 1.
Demographic characteristics, history of injecting drug use, self-reported health status and medical care utilization of prisoners (percentages) by HCV status
| Characteristics | HCV Ab− | HCV Ab+/non-viremic | HCV Ab+/viremic | P value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N = 423 | N = 89 | N = 178 | ||
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 92.2 | 74.2 | 74.7 | <.001 |
| Age (mean±SD) years | 35.5 (13.7) | 31.0 (8.2) | 30.2 (7.6) | <.001 |
| Indigenous origin | 31.9 | 31.5 | 24.2 | .2 |
| Education level* | ||||
| Nil to education with no qualification | 47.0 | 59.6 | 59.0 | |
| With qualification | 51.8 | 39.3 | 39.9 | .05 |
| Employment 6 months before imprisonment* | ||||
| No | 49.6 | 73.0 | 67.4 | |
| Yes | 49.9 | 25.8 | 32.0 | <.001 |
| Duration in prison | ||||
| Less than 1 year | 52.3 | 51.7 | 61.2 | |
| One or more years | 47.7 | 48.3 | 38.8 | .1 |
| History of ever injecting drug use* | ||||
| No | 65.5 | 9.0 | 6.7 | |
| Yes | 21.0 | 84.3 | 90.5 | <.001 |
| Duration of drug injection (median, IQR) | 5 (3–9) | 11 (7–16) | 11 (6–16) | <.001 |
| Drug injection in prison* | ||||
| No | 87.9 | 41.6 | 40.4 | |
| Yes | 7.8 | 49.4 | 55.1 | <.001 |
| Frequency of drug injection last month | N = 11 | N = 11 | N = 26 | |
| Daily or more | 90.9 | 100 | 92.3 | |
| Less than daily | 9.1 | .0 | 7.7 | 1.0 |
| Ever told by a doctor of having hepatitis C* | ||||
| No | 96.9 | 31.5 | 25.8 | |
| Yes | 1.2 | 66.3 | 71.4 | <.001 |
| Medical conditions* | ||||
| Arthritis | 18.9 | 13.5 | 11.2 | .1 |
| Respiratory disease (e.g., asthma) | 17.7 | 32.6 | 20.2 | .01 |
| Cancer | 4.3 | 4.5 | 5.6 | .9 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 3.3 | .0 | 2.8 | .2 |
| Cardiac disease | 25.8 | 20.2 | 18.5 | .2 |
| High blood pressure | 15.6 | 7.9 | 7.3 | .02 |
| Peptic ulcer | 9.9 | 11.2 | 7.3 | .8 |
| HIV positive | .3 | 1.2 | 2.4 | .01 |
| Charlson co-morbidity index score† | ||||
| 0–1 | 69.7 | 77.5 | 78.7 | |
| >1 | 30.3 | 22.5 | 21.3 | .05 |
| Disabling condition lasting ≥6 months | 32.4 | 37.1 | 34.8 | .6 |
| Symptoms past 4 weeks* | ||||
| None | 13.7 | 12.4 | 11.8 | |
| 1–2 | 22.9 | 19.1 | 21.9 | |
| 3 or more | 63.1 | 68.5 | 66.3 | .9 |
| Hospital admission past 12 months | ||||
| No | 82.7 | 75.3 | 76.4 | |
| Yes | 17.3 | 24.7 | 23.6 | .1 |
| Depression severity‡(%) | ||||
| Minimal/nil (0–9) | 59.8 | 53.9 | 59.6 | |
| Mild (10–16) | 23.9 | 25.8 | 15.7 | |
| Moderate to severe (17–63) | 14.4 | 16.9 | 23.6 | .04 |
HCV Ab− HCV antibody negative prisoners, HCV Ab+/non-viremic HCV antibody positive/non-viremic prisoners; HCV Ab+/non-viremic HCV antibody positive/viremic prisoners.
*Percentages include participants who did not report.
†A measurement of co-morbidity where a higher score reflects more severe co-morbidity.14
‡Based on Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) score.