Table 1.
Demographic, detention, and lifestyle characteristics of respondent prisoners
| Characteristic | No. | % |
|---|---|---|
| Age, years (623; 95.8) | 39.8 ± 10.5§ | |
| Marital status (628; 96.6) | ||
| Married | 363 | 57.8 |
| Other | 265 | 42.2 |
| Having dependent children at home (638; 98.2) | ||
| None | 436 | 68.3 |
| Yes | 202 | 31.7 |
| Educational attainment (631; 97.1) | ||
| No compulsory education | 202 | 32 |
| Compulsory education or some degree | 429 | 68 |
| Occupational status before entering prison (643; 98.9) | ||
| Employed | 444 | 69 |
| Unemployed | 199 | 31 |
| Cigarette smoking status (630; 96.9) | ||
| Past/Never smoker | 205 | 32.5 |
| Current smoker | 425 | 67.5 |
| Daily amount of cigarettes smoked by current smokers (425; 65.4) | 21.2 ± 12.3§ | |
| First-time incarceration (638; 98.2) | ||
| No | 343 | 53.8 |
| Yes | 295 | 46.2 |
| Time served in prison, years (588; 90.5) | 6.8 ± 6.4§ | |
| Detention status (621; 95.5) | ||
| Awaiting trial | 115 | 18.5 |
| Awaiting sentence | 102 | 16.4 |
| Serving sentence | 404 | 65.1 |
| Length of sentence, years (397; 61.1) | 10 ± 7.9§ | |
| History of lifetime drugs use (619; 95.2) | ||
| No | 434 | 70.1 |
| Yes | 185 | 29.9 |
| Type of drugs used prior to incarceration (173; 26.6)* | ||
| Cocaine | 132 | 75.9 |
| Marijuana/Hashish | 122 | 70.1 |
| Heroin | 61 | 35.1 |
| Barbiturates/Tranquillizers | 29 | 16.7 |
| Amphetamine | 25 | 14.4 |
| Other | 70 | 34.6 |
| History of drugs use within prison (168; 25.8) | ||
| No | 133 | 79.2 |
| Yes | 35 | 20.8 |
| Type of drugs used within prison (34; 5.2)* | ||
| Marijuana/Hashish | 18 | 52.9 |
| Barbiturates/Tranquillizers | 16 | 47.1 |
| Cocaine | 14 | 41.2 |
| Heroin | 8 | 23.5 |
| Ecstasy | 3 | 8.8 |
| Other | 9 | 26.5 |
In brackets the number and percentage of the total sample of 650 prisoners responding to the question
*Multiple responses allowed
§ Mean ± standard deviation