Physical health status of individuals convicted of sexual offences: Results from an Australian prisoner cohort

Mathew Gullotta; David Greenberg; Armita Adily; Olayan Albalawi; Azar Karminia; Lee Knight; Tony Gerard Butler

doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102610

Physical health status of individuals convicted of sexual offences: Results from an Australian prisoner cohort

J Forensic Leg Med. 2023 Nov:100:102610. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102610. Epub 2023 Nov 4.

Authors

Mathew Gullotta¹, David Greenberg², Armita Adily³, Olayan Albalawi⁴, Azar Karminia⁵, Lee Knight⁶, Tony Gerard Butler⁷

Affiliations

¹ School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; The Wellbeing Group, Sydney, NSW, 2040, Australia. Electronic address: mathew@twbg.com.au.
² Justice Health and Forensic Mental Health Network, Sydney, NSW, 2036, Australia; School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia. Electronic address: david.greenberg@health.nsw.gov.au.
³ School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia. Electronic address: aadily@kirby.unsw.edu.au.
⁴ School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia; Department of Statistics, Science Faculty, Tabuk University, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: oalbalawi@kirby.unsw.edu.au.
⁵ School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia. Electronic address: akariminia@kirby.unsw.edu.au.
⁶ School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia. Electronic address: lknight@kirby.unsw.edu.au.
⁷ School of Population Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia. Electronic address: tbutler@kirby.unsw.edu.au.

PMID: 37944416
DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2023.102610

Abstract

Although the poor health of prisoners poses a serious public health problem, very little is known about the health of specific offender groups. Three waves of an Australian Inmate Health Survey were used to describe the self-reported and objectively tested health of men incarcerated for sexual offences against children only (ISOC), adults only (ISOA), and against both (age-polymorphous; ISOP) compared to men incarcerated without sexual offences. ISOC and ISOP were found to have the poorest self-reported health of all groups, with higher rates of eyesight and cardiovascular problems; however, lower rates of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C as objectively measured. There are important implications for the correctional and public health systems for addressing the health needs of specific offenders.

Keywords: Chronic conditions; Health; Individuals in custody; Prisoners; Sex offender.

MeSH terms

Adult
Australia / epidemiology
Child
Health Status
Humans
Male
Prisoners*
Sex Offenses*
Sexual Behavior