PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ford, P. M.
AU  - White, C.
AU  - Kaufmann, H.
AU  - MacTavish, J.
AU  - Pearson, M.
AU  - Ford, S.
AU  - Sankar-Mistry, P.
AU  - Connop, P.
TI  - Voluntary anonymous linked study of the prevalence of HIV infection and hepatitis C among inmates in a Canadian federal penitentiary for women
DP  - 1995 Dec 01
TA  - Canadian Medical Association Journal
PG  - 1605--1609
VI  - 153
IP  - 11
4099  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/153/11/1605.short
4100  - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/153/11/1605.full
SO  - CMAJ1995 Dec 01; 153
AB  - OBJECTIVE: To determine the seroprevalence of HIV infection and hepatitis C among inmates of a federal penitentiary for women. DESIGN: Voluntary, anonymous, linked, point-prevalence study involving testing of blood samples for antibodies to HIV and hepatitis C virus. PARTICIPANTS: All inmates of the multilevel security federal Prison for Women, Kingston, Ont., who volunteered to participate in the study. Inmates at this long-stay facility are from across Canada. OUTCOME MEASURE: Seroprevalence rate among participants of antibodies to HIV and hepatitis C virus. RESULTS: Of the 130 inmates available for study 113 (86.9%) agreed to donate a blood sample. One woman (0.9%) was HIV positive; 45 (39.8%) were positive for hepatitis C antibody. CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to obtain a high participation rate in a voluntary, anonymous, linked point-prevalence study in a long-stay penitentiary. The HIV seroprevalence rate of 0.9% is lower than that found in studies in provincial (short-stay) prisons. However, the high rate of antibodies to hepatitis C suggests a significant level of risk behaviour, most likely injection drug use, and suggests the potential for a rapid increase in the rate of HIV infection should the number of newly admitted HIV-positive inmates who use injection drugs rise.