Table 1.

Prevalence of hepatitis B core antibodies, hepatitis C antibodies, and HIV antibodies in 596 prisoners entering Irish prisons by use of injected drugs and prison history

	Total No of prisoners	Hepatitis B core antibodies			Hepatitis C antibodies			HIV antibodies
		No (%; 95% CI) of prisoners	P value of difference*		No (%; 95% CI) of prisoners	P value of difference*		No (%; 95% CI) of prisoners	P value of difference*
Total sample:	596†	37† (6.2; 4.4 to 8.5)			130 (21.8; 18.6 to 25.4)			12‡ (2.0; 1.0 to 3.5)
Previously spent time in prison	394	32 (8.1; 5.6 to 11.3)	<0.01		122 (31.0; 26.4 to 35.8)	<0.0001		11 (2.8; 1.4 to 4.9)	0.02
Never before spent time in prison	197	4 (2.0; 0.6 to 5.1)			6 (3.1; 1.1 to 6.5)			0 (0; 0 to 1.9)
Injecting drug users:	173‡§	31 (17.9; 12.5 to 24.5)			124 (71.7; 64.3 to 78.3)			10 (5.8; 2.8 to 10.4)
Previously spent time in prison	157	29 (18.5; 12.7 to 25.4)	0.3		117 (74.5; 67.0 to 81.1)	<0.01		10 (6.4; 3.1 to 11.4)	0.3
Never before spent time in prison	14	1 (7.1; 0.2 to 33.9)			5 (35.7; 12.8 to 64.9)			0 (0; 0 to 23.2)
Never used injected drugs:	420‡¶	5 (1.2; 0.4 to 2.8)			6 (1.4; 0.5 to 3.1)			2§ (0.5; 0.1 to 1.7)
Previously spent time in prison	236	2 (0.9; 0.1 to 3.1)	0.7		5 (2.1; 0.7 to 4.9)	0.2		1 (0.4; 0.0 to 2.3)	1.0
Never before spent time in prison	183	3 (1.6; 0.3 to 4.7)			1 (0.6; 0 to 3.0)			0 (0; 0 to 2.0)

^*Derived from χ² tests of association or Fisher's exact tests comparing prevalence in respondents previously in prison and prevalence in those never before in prison. 

^†Antibody prevalence estimated in 596 respondents with analysable oral fluid samples. 

^‡Three respondents with analysable samples (including one who tested positive for hepatitis B core antibodies) did not declare injector status. 

^§Two injectors did not provide information on time spent in prison. 

^¶One non-injector did not provide information on time spent in prison and also tested positive for HIV antibodies.