Department of Public Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Health Promot Int. 2009 Dec;24(4):334-43. doi: 10.1093/heapro/dap034. Epub 2009 Oct 23.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death throughout the world. In high income countries, the greatest burden of disease is seen in those from lower socio-economic groups. It is therefore likely that CVD is an important issue for prisoners in the UK, the majority of whom were either unemployed or in non-skilled employment prior to imprisonment. However, there is little research examining this issue. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of five modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (smoking, physical activity, diet, body mass index and hypertension) in women prisoners on entry to prison and then 1 month after imprisonment. This was a prospective longitudinal study involving 505 women prisoners in England. Participants completed a questionnaire containing questions about health-related behaviours within 72 h of entering prison. The researchers measured their blood pressure, height and weight. They followed up all participants who were still imprisoned 1 month later and invited them to participate again. The results showed that women prisoners were at high risk of CVD in the future; 85% smoked cigarettes, 87% were insufficiently active to benefit their health, 86% did not eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day and 30% were overweight or obese. After 1 month, there were few improvements in risk factors. This may in part reflect the fact that, unlike prisons in other high income countries, there are currently no systematic approaches which address these health issues within UK women's prisons.
心血管疾病（CVD）是全世界范围内的主要死亡原因。在高收入国家，来自社会经济地位较低群体的人所面临的疾病负担最大。因此，CVD 可能是英国囚犯的一个重要问题，他们中的大多数人在入狱前要么失业，要么从事非技术工作。然而，目前几乎没有研究关注这一问题。本研究旨在调查进入监狱时和监禁 1 个月后女性囚犯五种可改变的心血管危险因素（吸烟、体力活动、饮食、体重指数和高血压）的流行情况。这是一项涉及英格兰 505 名女性囚犯的前瞻性纵向研究。参与者在入狱后 72 小时内完成了一份包含健康相关行为问题的问卷。研究人员测量了她们的血压、身高和体重。他们随访了所有仍在监禁中的参与者，并邀请她们再次参与。结果表明，女性囚犯未来发生 CVD 的风险很高；85%的人吸烟，87%的人活动量不足，无法促进健康，86%的人每天没有吃至少 5 份水果和蔬菜，30%的人超重或肥胖。1 个月后，危险因素的改善很少。这在一定程度上反映了一个事实，即与其他高收入国家的监狱不同，目前英国女性监狱内没有针对这些健康问题的系统方法。
