Ethnic differences in the health of women prisoners

The numbers of female and ethnic minority prisoners in the UK are increasing. Despite recent policy initiatives to improve both prison healthcare and the status of women and ethnic minority groups, there are few data with which to inform service development. This is the first study in the UK to examine differences in subjective health status and health behaviours between Black and White female prisoners.

Retrospective secondary analysis of data from the Health of Women in Prison Study by the University of Oxford. The latter was a longitudinal survey.

Participants were given a questionnaire containing the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and questions about cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, physical exercise, diet, imprisonment history and ethnicity. Data from Black and White participants were compared. Physical and mental component summary scores from the SF-36 were assessed using the independent t-test for means. Differences in health behaviours between the Black and White women were assessed using a paired samples t-test for continuous variables or Chi-squared test for categorical data.

Black women were more likely to have stayed in full-time education for longer and to have been legally employed prior to imprisonment. The average length of their current sentence was significantly higher than that for White women. Black women scored higher in general health perception, but there were no other significant differences in subjective health status. Significantly fewer Black women smoked or drank to excess, or had used drugs in the 6 months prior to imprisonment. Black women ate more healthily, but were more likely to be overweight and to have higher blood pressure than their White counterparts. Both groups, however, demonstrated poor health and health behaviours overall.

Black women entering prison are more likely to be educated, employed, drug free and, in some ways, healthier than White women. However, all the prisoners, regardless of ethnicity, had poorer levels of mental and physical health than the general population; thus, a need exists for researchers and policy makers alike to examine the health of these groups within and out of prison.