Psychological distress and perceived health in inmates in Norwegian prisons

Perceived health is a subjective measure of an individual's health based on self-reported, and self-knowledge about one's health status. It is related to one's functional status, morbidity, and mortality and serves as an important indicator in determining an individual's health status and health-related quality of life. The main purpose of this study is to explore (i) how a sample of adult inmates perceived their health and (ii) identify factors that may be associated with their perceived health.

This was a cross-sectional study, where data collection involved the use of a structured questionnaire. The study sites were six prisons. A total of 144 inmates, 13 women (14%) and 131 men (91%) took part in the study.

The odds of having perceived good health were reduced by increasing age of the inmate (OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.90-0.98) and increased by high level of education (OR = 4.11, 95% CI = 1.09-15.50) and long time spent in prison (OR = 3.56, 95% CI = 1.09-15.50), adjusting for ethnicity and a previous history of murder/manslaughter (p > .02). In the same adjusted analysis, the odds of perceived good health were decreased with medium high and high depressive score (OR = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.02-0.17 and OR = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.00-0.48, respectively).

Psychological distress, time spent in prison, level of education and age were independent predictors of perceived health. High levels of psychological distress predict poor perceived health. Low level of education predict poor perceived health, while time spent in prison and age predict good perceived health.