Factors associated with sexually transmitted diseases amongst female prison inmates in Peru

The number of women in prison is rapidly increasing every year and it is important to establish what factors are related to the probability of presenting STDs in this population to enable health control policies to be established.

An analysis was carried out on the open database of the national prison population survey conducted in 2016 in all Peruvian prisons. The study was based on the census and all female and male adults in prison were surveyed using a validated questionnaire.

The sample consisted of 4,574 inmates in 67 institutions, covering 98.8% of the inmate population. It was found that presenting tuberculosis (PR: 2.64; CI 95%, 1.32-5.26), HIV/AIDS (PR 6.54, CI 95% 1.52-28.18), hepatitis (PR: 4.01; CI 95%, 1.23-13.11) and drug use (PR: 2.44; CI 95%, 1.32-4.52), are statistically related (P ≤0.05) are factors associated with the presence of STDs in the multivariate model with a P ≤0.05.

The inclusion of associated factors (tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and drug use) should be part of the strategy to control and treat STD in women's prisons in Peru.