Table 2.
Prevalence of Smoking in General Population and in Prison by Sex, Asia and Pacific Island, 2012–2016
| First Author, Year (Reference No.) | Location | Study Population | Year Data Collected | In Prison, % | General Population,a % | Fold Increase | No. of Incarcerated Study Subjects | Prison Populationb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixed Sex Studies | ||||||||
| Chen, 2014 (66) | China | Cases of xerophthalmia | 2013 | 74.7 | 26.3 | 2.84 | 79 | 1,657,812 |
| Tiwari, 2014 (67) | India | 5 central jails of Chhattisgarh State in a sample of 506 persons in prison | 2013 | 56.2 | 11.0 | 5.11 | 506 | 418,536 |
| Al-Darraji, 2014 (68) | Malaysia | TB study, prison of 340 | 2010 | 98.2c | 23.7c | 4.14 | 286 | 38,387 |
| Margolis, 2013 (69) | Malaysia | TB study, prison of 288 | 2011 | 98.1 with prior history | 23.7 | 4.14 | 266 | 36,608 |
| Muir, 2016 (70) | New Zealand | TB and LTBI | 2011 | 60–80 | 17.9d | 3.35 | Not specified | 8,604 |
| Soomro, 2016 (71) | Pakistane | 300 persons in prison | 2015 | 62.0 | 21.6 | 2.87 | 300 | 79,700 |
| Morishita, 2017 (72) | Philippines | TB | 2015 | 82.4c | 25.3c | 3.26 | 6,133 | 120,076 |
| Studies in Men | ||||||||
| Liu, 2015 (73) | China, Xi’an city | Study of health status | 2013–2014 | 63.3 | 49.3 | 1.28 | 627 | 1,565,400 |
| Wang, 2016 (74) | China, Nantong, Jiangsu province; | Smoking status before prison:
|
2014 |
|
49.3 | 0.56f | 2,205 | 1,565,400 |
| Shi, 2015 (75) | China, Hongzehu, Jiangsu province | Cases of hypertension | 2014 | 65.3 | 49.3 | 1.32 | 300 | 1,565,400 |
| Torwane, 2013 (76) | India | Half with psychiatric issues, half without | 2013 | 77.0c | 11.0c | 7.00 | 244 | 353,961 |
| Naik, 2014 (22) | India | 1,600 convicted persons in prison | Not given | 78.3c | 11.0c | 7.27 | 1,600 | 353,961 |
| Chen, 2012 (77) | Taiwan | Smoking before prisons | 2000 | 90.7 | 33.5d | 2.72 | 589 | 51,689 |
| Li, 2013 (78) | Taiwan | Controls in cancer study | 2008 | 89.1 | 33.5d | 2.61 | 709 | 57,642 |
| Studies in Women | ||||||||
| Khan, 2012 (79) | Pakistan | Study of depression in women’s prison of 140 | 2008 | 60.9 | 3.7 | 16.49 | 64 | 931 |
| Liu, 2015 (80) | China, city of Xi’an | Study of health status | 2013–2014 | 30.6 | 2.0 | 15.3 | 500 | 107,131 |
Abbreviations: LTBI, latent tuberculosis infection; TB, tuberculosis.
a Data on general population from the World Health Organization (34), unless otherwise stated.
b Data from World Prison Brief data (8).
c In this region, the prevalence of smoking among prison population was very high in comparison with the general population in Malaysia (98.2% vs. 23.7%) and Australia (74% vs. 14.3%), Indian men (>75% vs. 11%), and Filipinos in the context of a TB study (82.4% vs. 25.3%).
d Data from Ng (46).
e Pakistan tested levels of smoking among particular groups (52% of murderers and 72% of thieves) and found it much higher than the general population (21.2%).
f Only among Chinese men, who in the general population have some of the highest rates of smoking in the world, was smoking in prison not consistently higher.