Lifetime Health Services Use by Male Drug-Abusing Offenders

• NCJ Number: 209064
• Journal: Prison Journal Volume: 85 Issue: 1 Dated: March 2005 Pages: 50-64
• Author(s): J. Matthew Webster; Carl G. Leukefeld; Michele Staton Tindall; Matthew L. Hiller; Thomas F. Garrity; Egle Narevic
• Date Published: March 2005
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01 DA11309
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using a modified version of the Andersen and Newman model of health services use, this study examined how male drug-abusing offenders use health services during their lifetimes.

Abstract

Despite the general under use of health services by drug-involved offenders, it remains unclear what factors relate to the services that they do receive prior to incarceration. This study examined the use of health services by male drug-abusing offenders in the context of the Andersen and Newman model which was modified to examine these offenders. The Andersen and Newman model was originally developed to examine long-term trends of health services utilization using large national databases. Three sets of individual difference variables were examined to explain the variance in lifetime services used by male drug-abusing offenders: (1) sociodemographic information; (2) drug/criminal histories; and (3) health/mental health histories. The study sample consisted of 661 male drug-involved offenders from 4 Kentucky State correctional facilities. As expected, age, race (White), and marital status emerged as important predisposing variables for the prediction of health services (defined as emergency room treatment and hospital stays over 1 day). However, drug use and criminal histories were less consistent in their importance for the prediction of lifetime service use. References