CVD risk amongst those in prison
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring undiagnosed cardiometabolic risks among men in a long stay prison in Wales
IRAS ID
264566
Contact name
Stephanie Perrett
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Public Health Wales
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 31 days
Research summary
It is well known that the health of people in prisons is a public health issue and that there are a number of complex social factors that could lead to poorer health outcomes. One of the suggested reasons for poorer health outcomes is overcrowding, resulting in limited access to healthcare to those who need it. This is especially relevant for Wales where four out of six Welsh prisons are within the top 20 overcrowded prisons across England and Wales (Sturge, 2018).
In addition to overcrowding and limited access to healthcare, the prison population in Wales is also an aging demographic. This older age-group presents a number of health challenges, for example, in relation to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which include heart disease and type 2 diabetes (collectively known as cardiometabolic disease). Research demonstrates that these burdens of NCDs in prisons are often higher than age-matched community peers (Munday et al., 2018). The global prevalence of major NCDs in those aged over 50 years in prison has been estimated to be as follows: cardiovascular disease (CVD, 38%), hypertension (39%), and type 2 diabetes (T2DM, 14%). However, the prevalence of these NCDs in Wales and the wider UK is unclear.
To address the concerns of the men in prison and also look to reduce the burden of NCDs in the prison environment we propose to undertake risk assessments for cardiometabolic disease in the prison setting. Performing these risk assessments will enable us to explore the risk of cardiometabolic ill-health for men in prison and will consider whether levels of health are associated with length of exposure to the prison environment.
The following objectives and questions will be addressed through undertaking this study;
• What is the prevalence of cardiometabolic ill-health in the prison population in Wales?
• What factors impact on cardiometabolic health within the prison environment?
- Are these traditional (such as age) or those more related to the prison environment
- Is longer exposure to the prison environment associated with poorer health outcomes?
- Does length of sentence impact on health?
• Is there a need for prevention/health promotion activities in this population to help reduce the future burdens of cardiometabolic disease?REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
19/WA/0188
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion