Cancer screening in prisons: lessons for health providers
Sarah Hesse A , Kim Williamson A , Deborah Bonney A , Marie Finley A and Tom Meehan B *A West Moreton Health, Locked Bag 500, Archerfield, Qld 4108, Australia.
B Service Evaluation & Research Unit, West Moreton Health & University of Queensland, Locked Bag 500, Archerfield, Qld 4108, Australia.
Australian Journal of Primary Health 29(1) 16-19 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY22120
Submitted: 13 June 2022 Accepted: 7 November 2022 Published: 29 November 2022
© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of La Trobe University
Abstract
Background: Lifestyle factors place those who experience incarceration at increased risk of morbidity and mortality from a range of preventable diseases, including cancer.
Methods: Two nurses were employed for a period of 6 months to facilitate bowel and breast cancer screening of prisoners across four correctional centres in Queensland. We identify factors impacting on cancer screening in prisons and document the outcomes for those screened.
Results: Both screening programs produced a positivity rate of ~17% in those screened, with 23 individuals returning a positive faecal occult blood test and five women requiring further investigations following breast screening. At 3 months postscreening, all of the positive cases had been referred for further investigations. It is likely that the screening programs were instrumental in preventing morbidity (and mortality) in the subgroup with positive test results.
Conclusions: Cancer screening within the prison environment presents a number of challenges. Intervention at the individual and systems level is required to ensure prisoners can access a standard of care equal to that provided in the community.
Keywords: bowel and breast cancer, outcomes, prevention, prison health services, prisoners, screening.
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021a) National and state information about adult prisoners and community-based corrections, including legal status, custody type, Indigenous status, sex. Available at www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/corrective-services-australia/latest-release [Accessed 7 April 2022]Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021b) Prisoners in Australia, 2021. Cat. no. 4517.0. ABS, Canberra. Available at https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/prisoners-australia/latest-release [Accessed 18 March 2022]
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2021) Cancer in Australia. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Available at https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/cancer/cancer-in-australia-2021/summary [Accessed 4 March 2022]
Blagden S, Simpson C, Limmer M (2020) Bowel cancer screening in an English prison: a qualitative service evaluation. Public Health 180, 46–50.
| Bowel cancer screening in an English prison: a qualitative service evaluation.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Corrective Services Administrators’ Council (2018) Guiding principles for corrections in Australia – revised. Available at http://files.corrections.vic.gov.au/guiding_principles_correctionsaustrevised2018.pdf [Accessed 19 October 2022]
Cortes A, Villagra C, Martinez S, Patel V, Jandorf L (2018) The role of incarceration and reentry on colorectal cancer screening among formerly incarcerated Black and Hispanic-Latino men in New York city. Journal of Cancer Education 33, 686–694.
| The role of incarceration and reentry on colorectal cancer screening among formerly incarcerated Black and Hispanic-Latino men in New York city.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Crowley D, Van Hout MC, Lambert JS, Kelly E, Murphy C, Cullen W (2018) Barriers and facilitators to hepatitis C (HCV) screening and treatment – a description of prisoners’ perspective. Harm Reduction Journal 15, 62
| Barriers and facilitators to hepatitis C (HCV) screening and treatment – a description of prisoners’ perspective.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Huang JL, Fang Y, Liang M, Li STS, Ng SKC, Hui ZSN, Ching J, Wang HH, Wong MCS (2017) Approaching the hard-to reach in organized colorectal cancer screening: an overview of individual, provider and system level coping strategies. AIMS Public Health 4, 289–300.
| Approaching the hard-to reach in organized colorectal cancer screening: an overview of individual, provider and system level coping strategies.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Kinner SA, Streitberg L, Butler T, Levy M (2012) Prisoner and ex-prisoner health: improving access to primary care. Australian Family Physician 41, 535–537.
Kouyoumdjian FG, Pivnick L, McIsaac KE, Wilton AS, Lofters A, Hwang SW (2017) Cancer prevalence, incidence and mortality in people who experience incarceration in Ontario, Canada: a population-based retrospective cohort study. PLoS ONE 12, e0171131
| Cancer prevalence, incidence and mortality in people who experience incarceration in Ontario, Canada: a population-based retrospective cohort study.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Snow KJ, Petrie D, Young JT, Preen DB, Heffernan E, Kinner SA (2022) Impact of dual diagnosis on healthcare and criminal justice costs after release from Queensland prisons: a prospective cohort study. Australian Journal of Public Health 28, 264–270.
| Impact of dual diagnosis on healthcare and criminal justice costs after release from Queensland prisons: a prospective cohort study.Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
