Inmate Health Care Provided in an Emergency Department

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Many correctional facilities have outsourced the medical care for this population that often presents with complex health issues. This study evaluates the reasons that inmates present to an emergency department (ED) and compares them to the general population ED visits. The most common presenting complaints were trauma (16.8%), abdominal pain (13.5%), chest pain (9.0%), and self-injury (8.7%). These presenting complaints differed significantly from those of the general population (abdominal pain [8.1%] and chest pain [5.2%]). Inmate-patients seen in the ED presented with a significantly higher frequency of trauma, 16.8% versus approximately 1.5%.