Table 1.
Sociodemographic and drug use characteristics by witnessing or knowing someone died from overdose in prison
|
Total Sample N = 1,179 |
Witnessed someone suffering an overdose in prison (n = 1,155)a |
p value |
Know someone dying from an overdose in prison (n = 1,157)b |
p value | |
| Yes (n = 525, 45.5%) | Yes (n = 390, 33.7%) | ||||
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |||
| Gender | |||||
| Male | 959 (81.3) | 488 (52.1) | p < 0.001 | 361 (38.5) | p < 0.001 |
| Female | 220 (18.7) | 37 (17.0) | 29 (13.3) | ||
| Age | |||||
| 18–24 years | 277 (23.5) | 84 (31.0) | p < 0.001 | 72 (26.6) | p = 0.001 |
| 25–35 years | 596 (50.5) | 305 (52.4) | 225 (38.7) | ||
| 36 or more | 306 (26.0) | 136 (45.0) | 93 (30.6) | ||
| Education level | |||||
| 9th grade or less | 449 (38.1) | 175 (39.7) | p = 0.006 | 145 (32.9) | p = 0.726 |
| 10–12th grade | 561 (47.6) | 274 (49.7) | 192 (34.8) | ||
| More than 12th grade | 169 (14.3) | 76 (46.6) | 53 (32.1) | ||
| Previous incarcerations | |||||
| First time | 427 (36.3) | 158 (37.8) | p = 0.001 | 98 (23.4) | p < 0.001 |
| 1–5 times | 603 (51.2) | 291 (49.1) | 236 (39.8) | ||
| More than 5 times | 147 (12.5) | 75 (52.4) | 55 (38.2) | ||
| Institution's prevalence of positive urine tests | |||||
| Very high | 206 (17.5) | 119 (58.9) | p < 0.001 | 86 (42.4) | p = 0.013 |
| High | 320 (27.1) | 150 (47.9) | 102 (32.7) | ||
| Normal | 399 (33.8) | 158 (40.2) | 133 (33.8) | ||
| Unknown | 254 (21.6) | 98 (39.7) | 69 (27.8) | ||
| Experienced an overdose (lifetime) | |||||
| Yes | 144 (12.2) | 86 (60.1) | p = 0.001 | 63 (44.1) | p = 0.005 |
| No | 1035 (87.8) | 439 (43.4) | 327 (32.3) | ||
| Illicit drug use (lifetime) | |||||
| Yes | 1033 (87.6) | 483 (47.5) | p = 0.001 | 361 (35.5) | p = 0.001 |
| No | 146 (12.4) | 42 (30.4) | 29 (20.7) | ||
| Drug injection before entering prison | |||||
| Yes | 323 (27.5) | 194 (60.6) | p < 0.001 | 144 (44.9) | p < 0.001 |
| No | 852 (72.5) | 330 (39.6) | 245 (29.4) | ||
| Drug and alcohol use during this incarceration^ | |||||
| None | 632 (53.6) | 349 (36.9) | p < 0.001 | 115 (18.6) | p < 0.001 |
| Only one type of drug/alcohol | 160 (13.6) | 25 (89.3) | 62 (39.5) | ||
| Polydrug with/without alcohol | 387 (32.8) | 148 (83.1) | 213 (55.8) | ||
| Drug injection in prison* | |||||
| None | 966 (82.3) | 349 (36.9) | p < 0.001 | 262 (27.6) | p < 0.001 |
| Drug injection, no risky behaviors | 29 (2.5) | 25 (89.3) | 17 (60.7) | ||
| Drug injection, risky behaviors | 178 (15.2) | 148 (83.1) | 110 (61.8) |
a, b Although sample size was 1,179, due to missing values, only participants who responded to these items were included in the analysis.
^ Drugs included are marihuana, crack, cocaine, heroin, speedball and/or tranquilizers.
*Risky behaviors include sharing needle equipment, not cleaning needle equipment before injecting, reusing water, backloading, doesn't clean skin prior injecting, sharing cooker and cotton and reusing needles