ASSOCIATION OF TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION WITH INCREASED TIME IN OR ADMISSION TO THE NEW YORK CITY JAIL SYSTEM

• NCJ Number: 143796
• Journal: Journal of the American Medical Association Volume: 269 Issue: 17 Dated: (May 5, 1993) Pages: 2229-2231
• Author(s): E Y Bellin; D D Fletcher; S M Salyer
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 4 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

To determine whether an association exists between time spent in jail or number of jail admissions and development of tuberculosis, researches matched a cohort of 2,636 tuberculin skin test-negative inmates incarcerated in 1985 against the Tuberculosis Registry of New York City.

Abstract

Each case of tuberculosis reported prior to May 15, 1992 was matched to three randomly selected controls from the inmate cohort. Conditional logistic regression modeling was performed to establish any correlation. The results showed that 60 inmates developed tuberculosis by May 15, 1992; 85 percent of the cases were pulmonary tuberculosis. Number of jail admissions, being age 30 or older, and assignment to a methadone detoxification unit were significant predictors of tuberculosis. One year of jail increased an individual's chances of contracting tuberculosis to 2.2. 1 figure, 3 tables, and 21 notes