Imprisoned women are at increased risk of cervical cancer but less likely to have been screened for this disease. There is very little information on the situation in prisons in the UK but this study indicates that, as anticipated, these women are less likely to have been screened in the last five years than women generally. Whilst there are no ethnic differences, it appears that women who had been in prison longer than three months were more likely to have had a smear in the last five years compared with those who had been in for three months or less (79.2% vs 37.5%, Chi-squared=9.7, p=O.002) suggesting that the prison health services had been able to use this opportunity to screen this disadvantaged population.
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3.
CanterburyRJMcGarveyELSheldon-KellerAEPrevalence of HIV-related risk behaviours and STDs among incarcerated adolescents. J Adoiesc Health1995; 17:173–77.
4.
FogelCIBelyeaM. The lives of incarcerated women: Violence, substance abuse and at risk for HIV. J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care, 1999;10(6): 66–74.
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Cu-UvinSFlanaganKCulffKCervical dysplasia among incarcerated women: A comparison of HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative inmates. Journal of Women's Health, 1996;5(6): 603–08.
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DowneyGPGabrielGDeeryARSManagement of female prisoners with abnormal cervical cytology. BMJ, 1994;308:1412–414.
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LogronoRWongJY.Rates of abnormalities and infectious agents in cervical smears from Female inmates in Texas: Comparison with private and university clinic patients. Tex Med, 1999;95(9): 60–63.
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MartinRE.A review of prison cervical cancer screening in British Colombia. CMAJ, 1998;89(6): 382–86.
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NHS. Building on experience: Cervical screening programme annual review 2002., Sheffield: NHS Cancer Screening Programmes, 2002.
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HartJ. The inverse care law. Lancet, 1971;1 (7696):405–12.
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SuttonGCStorerARoweK. Cancer screening coverage of south Asian women in Wakefield. J Med Screen, 2001;8:183–6.
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GrubinDCarsonDParsonsS. Report on new prison reception health screening arrangements: The results of a pilot study in 10 prisons. Newcastle: University of Newcastle, 2002.
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BlankSMcDonnellDDRubinSRNew approaches to syphilis control. Sex Transm Dis, 1997;24(4): 218–26.
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Department of Health. Hepatitis C strategy for England., London: Department of Health, 2002.
