Mass Incarceration and Subsequent Preventive Health Care: Mechanisms and Racial/Ethnic Disparities

To examine the associations and mechanisms between 2 indicators of mass incarceration and preventive health care use and whether these associations are moderated by race/ethnicity. We used 1997 to 2015-2016 data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (n = 7740) to examine the associa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) 2020-01, Vol.110 (S1), p.S145-S151
Main Authors: Widdowson, Alex O, Fisher, Benjamin W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access
Access to Care
AJPH Open-Themed Research
Arrests
Blood pressure
Cholesterol
Chronic illnesses
Cultural differences
Dependent variables
Disease prevention
Economic factors
Economic models
Economics
Employment
Ethnicity
Health care
Health care expenditures
Health care policy
Health insurance
Health services
Hispanic people
Imprisonment
Longitudinal studies
Mass incarceration
Minority & ethnic groups
Missing data
Other Race/Ethnicity
Preventive medicine
Public health
Race
Regression models
Social Science
Sugar
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Summary:To examine the associations and mechanisms between 2 indicators of mass incarceration and preventive health care use and whether these associations are moderated by race/ethnicity. We used 1997 to 2015-2016 data from the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (n = 7740) to examine the associations between arrest and incarceration at ages 18 to 27 years and cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure screenings at age 29 years. Explanatory mechanisms included blocked access (health care coverage and medical checkup) and economic (education, employment, and income) factors. We used logistic regression to model main effects. Arrest was associated with lower odds of getting blood cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure tests; incarceration was associated with lower odds of getting cholesterol and blood sugar tests; blocked access and economic factors mediated 42% to 125% of these associations. These associations were mostly consistent across race/ethnicity. Mass incarceration contributes to decreases in preventive health care use, which are explained in part by blocked access and economic factors. The decreased use of preventive health care following mass incarceration may increase the prevalence of disease and the associated costs of treatment.
ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2019.305448