Is Incarceration a Contributor to Health Disparities? Access to Care of Formerly Incarcerated Adults

• Published in: Journal of community health Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 268 - 274
• Main Authors: Kulkarni, Sonali P, Baldwin, Susie, Lightstone, Amy S, Gelberg, Lillian, Diamant, Allison L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Boston : Springer US 01.06.2010; Springer Science + Business Media, LLC; Springer US; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Communicable Diseases; Community and Environmental Psychology; Community Relations; Correctional Institutions; Counties; Data Analysis; Dental Care - statistics & numerical data; Dental Health; Dentistry; Emotional Problems; Employment Level; Ethics; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Ex-convicts; Female; Health Behavior; Health care access; Health Conditions; Health Insurance; Health Promotion and Disease Prevention; Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data; Health Surveys; Healthcare Disparities - statistics & numerical data; Households; Humans; Internal Medicine; Logistic Models; Los Angeles; Male; Marital Status; Medical Services; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; ORIGINAL PAPER; Polls & surveys; Predictor Variables; Prisoners - statistics & numerical data; Prisons; Public Health; Risk Factors; Telephone Surveys; Young Adult; Los Angeles; Los Angeles County California; United States > US; USA, California, Los Angeles Cty; Access to care; Incarceration; Communities of color; Health disparities
• ISSN: 0094-5145; 1573-3610
• DOI: 10.1007/s10900-010-9234-9

Despite the disproportionate prevalence of incarceration in communities of color, few studies have examined its contribution to health disparities. We examined whether a lifetime history of incarceration is associated with recent access to medical and dental care. We performed a secondary data analysis of the 2007 Los Angeles County Health Survey, a population-based random-digit-dialing telephone survey of county households. Any history of incarceration in a prison/jail/detention center as an adult was assessed for a random subsample. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses examined whether incarceration history was associated with access to care, controlling for other characteristics. Ten percent of our study population reported a history of incarceration. While persons with an incarceration history were similar to their peers with regard to health and insurance status, their access to medical and dental care was worse. Incarceration history was independently associated with disparities in access to care. Interventions to improve the health of communities affected by high rates of incarceration could include efforts that enable access to care for formerly incarcerated adults.