Advanced search

Vitamin D deficiency and segregation status in prisoners

Zelda Doyle (Lithgow Rural Clinical School, School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame, Sydney, Australia)
John Walton Dearin (Lithgow Rural Clinical School, School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame, Sydney, Australia)
Joe McGirr (Wagga Wagga Rural Clinical School, School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame, Sydney, Australia)

International Journal of Prisoner Health

ISSN: 1744-9200

Publication date: 12 March 2018

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if any exposure to segregation minimal association in a single male prison population had any association with an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Design/methodology/approach

A retrospective case study was undertaken with all inmates who had a 25-hyrdoxy-vitamin D test taken during the study period deemed eligible. Hand searching of the medical records by an independent party identified eligible participants whose data were recorded for analysis.

Findings

In total, 124 prisoners were deemed eligible for inclusion; 67 were vitamin D sufficient and 57 were vitamin D deficient by Australian standards. Time in segregation minimal association was shown not to be significant, however, smoking (OR 2.93, 95% CI 1.27-6.81, p=0.012) and having Asian ethnicity (OR 4.16, 95% CI 1.56-11.10, p=0.004) independently significantly increased the risk of vitamin D deficiency.

Research limitations/implications

This research is limited by its study design, small sample size and single location.

Originality/value

This paper presents the first published research into vitamin D levels in a prison population in Australia, and provides a basis for a larger prospective cohort study.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Conflicts of interest: Associate Professor Dearin is a Visitng Medical Officer at the prison where the study was undertaken.

The authors would like to thank Associate Professor Sally Lord and Professor Gavin Frost who provided feedback on earlier versions of this paper.

Citation

Doyle, Z., Dearin, J.W. and McGirr, J. (2018), "Vitamin D deficiency and segregation status in prisoners", International Journal of Prisoner Health, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 16-25. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-11-2016-0067

Download as .RIS

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

To read the full version of this content please select one of the options below

You may be able to access this content by logging in via Shibboleth, Open Athens or with your Emerald account.
To rent this content from Deepdyve, please click the button.
Rent from Deepdyve
If you think you should have access to this content, click the button to contact our support team.
Contact us
Manage cookies

We’re listening — tell us what you think

Join us on our journey