Assessment of health status among incarcerated men.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have focused on the health status of the incarcerated population in Taiwan. The purpose of this study was to assess disease risk factors in incarcerated men. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. All 1129 newly sentenced men older than 20 years received routine blood checkups and completed a face-to-face interview from November 2004 to February 2005. RESULTS: The mean age was 35.6 +/- 9.9 years old (range, 20-69). Of 1129 enrollees, there were 558 subjects who had never used illicit drugs (49.4%), 149 subjects who inhaled amphetamine (13.2%), and 422 subjects who injected heroin (37.4%). The overall prevalence rates were 15.0% for obesity, 9.3% for diabetes mellitus, 19.3% for hypercholesterolemia, 48.0% for hypertriglyceridemia, 62.7% for abnormal alanine aminotransferase, and 16.6% for hyperuricemia. With a control group as a comparison, the incarcerated group was less likely to have hypercholesterolemia and hyperuricemia, but more likely to have hypertriglyceridemia and abnormal alanine aminotransferase. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with nonincarcerated group, the incarcerated men are different in certain disease risk factors and smoking habit.

Influence of intravenous drug abuse on native arteriovenous fistula thrombosis in chronic hemodialysis patients.

The influence of intravenous drug abuse (IVDA) on native arteriovenous fistula thrombosis (NAT) in chronic hemodialysis patients is unknown. We conducted a retrospective study of 123 chronic hemodialysis patients incarcerated in a male prison in Mid-Taiwan. All patients were dialyzed three times per week, 4 h per session. The development of NAT was compared in patients with a history of IVDA (42, 34.1%) and those without (81, 65.9%). A total of 36 patients experienced one or more NAT episodes in 6 years and 29 (80.6%) of them had a history of IVDA. In these 29 patients, 22 (75.9%) relied on repeated thrombectomy or thrombolysis therapy to maintain patent vascular access. In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, patients with a history of IVDA were prone to develop NAT (log-rank, P < 0.001). The result of Cox regression suggested that a history of IVDA, independent of diabetes, was associated with the development of NAT. Patients with a history of IVDA, even after IVDA has stopped, were still prone to develop NAT and vascular access infection.

Screening for viral hepatitis among male non-drug-abuse prisoners.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and the associated risk factors in a prison population. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, from November 2004 to February 2005, all 297 newly sentenced prisoners (mean age 37.5+/-11.7 years, age range 16-69 years), who had never used illicit drugs received routine blood check-ups and completed a face-to-face interview. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HCV antibodies were tested using the t-test, chi-square test, and logistic regression. RESULTS: Among the 297 subjects, 13.1% were positive for HBsAg, 8.4% were positive for anti-HCV, and 1.7% were positive for combined HBsAg and anti-HCV. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that tattooing (odds ratio=2.24, 95% CI=1.03-4.88) and an elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALAT) level (odds ratio=4.10, 95% CI=1.61-10.40) were independently related to HCV infection. CONCLUSIONS: Screening of HBV and HCV infection in prison populations remains necessary. Tattooing and elevated ALAT level are identified as the related factors of HCV infection.

Descriptive epidemiology of hepatitis C virus among male heroin abusers in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to explore the epidemiology of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and to determine the risk factors for HCV infection among heroin abusers in Taiwan. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. From November 2004 to February 2005, 577 subjects, including 423 subjects (73.3%) using injectable heroin and 154 subjects (26.7%) using smoked heroin from one male prison located in Taiwan, were enrolled in this study. The mean age was 33.3 +/- 7.9 years (age range 19-65 years). Anti-HCV antibody was tested. A face-to-face interview focusing on sociodemographic information and risk behaviors was addressed. The t test, chi-squared test, and multivariate logistic regression were used. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of anti-HCV antibody positivity was 74.9%, with 89.8% among injecting heroin abusers and 33.8% among smoking heroin abusers (P < 0.0001). The multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that needle sharing was independently related to HCV infection (odds ratio = 5.25, 95% confidence interval = 2.48-11.12). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of anti-HCV antibody positivity among male injecting drug abusers is high in Taiwan. Needle sharing is identified as a potential risk factor for HCV infection.