Table 4.

Prisoners' self-reported symptoms or diseases and access to health services

Characteristic	No.	%
Self-reported health problems at prison entry (625; 96.2)
No	439	70.2
Yes	186	29.8
Self-reported current symptoms or diseases (640; 98.5)
No	116	18.1
Yes	524	81.9
Category of self-reported current symptoms or diseases (523; 80.5)*
Dental health problems	293	56.1
Arthritis or rheumatic pain	210	40.2
Eye problems	199	38.1
Gastro-intestinal diseases	191	36.5
Emotional problems (anxiety, depression)	184	35.2
High blood pressure	129	24.7
Cancer	98	18.7
Bone fractures	92	17.6
Liver diseases	88	16.8
Heart diseases	87	16.6
Emphysema or chronic bronchitis	85	16.3
Diabetes	79	15.1
Other	54	10.3
Arranging a medical encounter in case of health complaints (625; 96.2)
Never	53	8.5
Rarely	211	33.8
Sometimes	156	24.9
Often	132	21.1
Very often	73	11.7
Medical examination undergone during last year of incarceration (626; 96.3)
No	87	13.9
Yes	539	86.1
Reason for medical examination during last year of incarceration (296; 45.5)*
Arthritis or rheumatic pain	50	16.9
Emotional problems (anxiety, depression)	49	16.6
Dental health problems	43	14.5
Check-up	40	13.5
Gastro-intestinal diseases	32	10.8
Heart diseases	29	9.8
Eye problems	26	8.8
Bone fractures	24	8.1
High blood pressure	23	7.8
Acute respiratory diseases	22	7.4
Other	98	33.1
Hospital admission during last year of incarceration (599; 92.2)
No	531	88.6
Yes	68	11.4
Having ever attempted suicide within prison (602; 92.6)
No	520	86.4
Yes	82	13.6
Having ever attempted suicide outside prison (617; 94.9)
No	568	92.1
Yes	49	7.9

In brackets the number and percentage of the total sample of 650 prisoners responding to the question

*Multiple responses allowed