Sexually transmitted infections and other health conditions of women entering prison in Georgia, 1998-1999.

OBJECTIVES

To assess health needs of women entering the Georgia prison system, prevalence of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections was estimated.

STUDY: Results of admission screening tests of women entering the Georgia prison system in 1998 to 1999 were abstracted retrospectively from prison records.

RESULTS

Of 3636 women whose data were abstracted from prison records, 4.3% were pregnant and 8.2%, 4.0%, 5.9%, and 0.7%, respectively, had positive screening tests for trichomoniasis, HIV, chlamydia, and gonorrhea; 19.5% had at least 1 of those conditions. HIV prevalence was higher among inmates who were black or had a rapid plasma reagin test for syphilis reactive at > or =1:8 dilutions (6.0%, 15.8%, respectively) than others (1.3%, 3.7%; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Inmates in this study had high rates of sexually transmitted infections and many were pregnant. Black inmates were at higher risk for HIV and high rapid plasma reagin titers than white inmates or other routinely tested Georgia female populations.