Autoavaliação do estado de saúde em mulheres privadas de liberdade em Juiz de Fora - MG

Abstract

Approximately 5% of Brazilian prison population consists of women and the rate of female incarceration has grown exponentially in recent years, becoming proportionally higher when compared to the rate of male incarceration. The majority of women deprived of liberty hold a background of social vulnerability, which has an impact on the illness process, and incarceration tends to intensify these issues, affecting health conditions harmfully, whether in the aspect of physical, mental or social welfare. Self-assessment of health status is a predictor of morbidity and mortality rates and an important indicator of health and quality of life for populations. As it is a robust and multidimensional evaluator, its application in the context of incarceration seems particularly useful. Therefore, the aim of this study was to verify the prevalence of poor self-rated health status and associated factors on incarcerated women in a prison unit in Juiz de Fora - MG. This is a cross-sectional study, carried out by means of a census, with the participation 99 women deprived of liberty in the Female Annex Eliane Betti, in Juiz de Fora - MG. Data collection was carried out from the month of September 2019 to February 2020. All women with at least 30 days in prison were eligible, regardless of penal regime. The data collection instrument was composed of semi-structured questions and standardized scales, being organized into three major thematic blocks: Block 1 - Socioeconomic and demographic characteristics; Block 2 - Health conditions and Block 3 - Living conditions in the prison unit. The data were processed in a database created using the software Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 15.0, with a significance level of 5%. Participants were classified according to the selfassessment of health status. For the analysis of the factors associated to the outcome, a theoretical model of determination was built with three hierarchical blocks of variables. Crude prevalence ratios were estimated using the Chi-square test (X2 ), and adjusted by Poisson regression. The prevalence of poor self-rated health was 31.3% (CI95% = 22.8% - 40.9%). Risk factors for poor self-rated health were taken as, the worst perspective regarding post-incarceration health conditions (adjusted PR = 4.82; 95% CI 1.50–15.47), reported morbidity (adjusted PR = 4.11; 95% CI 1.33– 12.65) and the presence of anxiety symptoms (adjusted PR = 15.20; 95% CI 1.79- 128.92). The data reveal the occurrence of poor self-rated health in approximately one third of the inmates. Variables related to health conditions and incarceration remained associated with the outcome. These results confirm that self-noticed health is under the influence of different aspects, and reinforce that the health of incarcerated women must be conceived from the perspective of an expanded concept of health. The findings of this study may contribute to the direction of strategies that lead to coping with and minimizing social impacts, as well as physical and mental health, and that fully assist incarcerated women.