Table 1: Prevalence of self-reported chronic health conditions among 2273 male inmates newly admitted to federal penitentiaries, overall and by age group and Aboriginal status.
| Health condition | Total, no. (%)* n = 2273 |
Age group, no. (%)* |
Aboriginal ancestry, no. (%)* |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 50 yr n = 1970 |
≥ 50 yr n = 302 |
φc value | Aboriginal n = 496 |
Non-Aboriginal n = 1774 |
φc value | |||||||
| Central nervous system |
||||||||||||
| Head injury |
738 |
(34.1) |
648 |
(34.6) |
90 |
(30.7) |
0.03 |
193 |
(43.0) |
543 |
(31.7) |
0.10† |
| Seizures |
92 |
(4.3) |
75 |
(4.0) |
17 |
(5.8) |
0.03 |
23 |
(5.1) |
68 |
(4.0) |
0.02 |
| Spinal injury |
56 |
(2.6) |
47 |
(2.5) |
9 |
(3.1) |
0.01 |
13 |
(2.9) |
43 |
(2.5) |
0.01 |
| Musculoskeletal system |
||||||||||||
| Back pain |
411 |
(19.3) |
332 |
(18.0) |
79 |
(27.5) |
0.08 |
73 |
(16.4) |
338 |
(20.0) |
0.04 |
| Arthritis |
177 |
(8.3) |
122 |
(6.6) |
55 |
(19.2) |
0.16† |
36 |
(8.1) |
140 |
(8.3) |
0.003 |
| Osteoporosis |
9 |
(0.4) |
6 |
(0.3) |
3 |
(1.1) |
0.04 |
2 |
(0.5) |
7 |
(0.4) |
0.002 |
| Respiratory system |
||||||||||||
| Asthma |
318 |
(14.7) |
284 |
(15.1) |
34 |
(11.6) |
0.03 |
57 |
(12.7) |
261 |
(15.2) |
0.03 |
| Bronchitis |
63 |
(2.9) |
55 |
(2.9) |
8 |
(2.7) |
0.004 |
14 |
(3.1) |
49 |
(2.9) |
0.01 |
| Other pulmonary disease |
38 |
(1.8) |
23 |
(1.2) |
15 |
(5.1) |
0.10† |
3 |
(0.7) |
35 |
(2.0) |
0.04 |
| Cardiovascular system |
||||||||||||
| Hypertension |
184 |
(8.5) |
114 |
(6.1) |
70 |
(23.8) |
0.22† |
35 |
(7.8) |
149 |
(8.7) |
0.01 |
| Elevated cholesterol |
114 |
(5.3) |
64 |
(3.4) |
50 |
(17.1) |
0.21† |
11 |
(2.4) |
103 |
(6.0) |
0.06 |
| Heart attack |
44 |
(2.0) |
24 |
(1.3) |
20 |
(6.8) |
0.13† |
9 |
(2.0) |
35 |
(2.0) |
0.001 |
| Arrhythmia |
34 |
(1.6) |
26 |
(1.4) |
8 |
(2.7) |
0.04 |
6 |
(1.3) |
28 |
(1.6) |
0.01 |
| Angina |
30 |
(1.4) |
12 |
(0.6) |
18 |
(6.1) |
0.16† |
5 |
(1.1) |
25 |
(1.5) |
0.01 |
| Stroke |
16 |
(0.7) |
8 |
(0.4) |
8 |
(2.7) |
0.09 |
2 |
(0.4) |
14 |
(0.8) |
0.02 |
| Blood-borne virus |
||||||||||||
| HIV/AIDS |
27 |
(1.3) |
23 |
(1.3) |
4 |
(1.5) |
0.005 |
10 |
(2.4) |
17 |
(1.1) |
0.05 |
| HCV |
191 |
(9.4) |
156 |
(8.8) |
35 |
(12.7) |
0.05 |
66 |
(15.5) |
124 |
(7.7) |
0.11† |
| Endocrine system |
||||||||||||
| Diabetes |
88 |
(4.2) |
54 |
(2.9) |
34 |
(11.9) |
0.15† |
16 |
(3.6) |
72 |
(4.3) |
0.01 |
| Gastrointestinal system |
||||||||||||
| Ulcers |
69 |
(3.2) |
56 |
(3.0) |
13 |
(4.4) |
0.03 |
12 |
(2.7) |
57 |
(3.3) |
0.02 |
| Reproductive system |
||||||||||||
| Prostate problems |
60 |
(2.8) |
26 |
(1.4) |
34 |
(11.8) |
0.21† |
11 |
(2.5) |
49 |
(2.9) |
0.01 |
| Any cancer history | 39 | (1.8) | 19 | (1.0) | 20 | (6.8) | 0.15† | 4 | (0.9) | 35 | (2.0) | 0.04 |
Note: HCV = hepatitis C virus. *The denominator varies by condition owing to missing data. †Value indicates a meaningful effect size (i.e., at least a weak association). Cramér’s phi (denoted as φc) values between 0.10 and 0.20 indicate a weak association, between 0.20 and 0.40 a moderate association, between 0.40 and 0.60 a strong association and above 0.60 a very strong association.