Physical health status of individuals convicted of sexual offences: Results from an Australian prisoner cohort.

Although the poor health of prisoners poses a serious public health problem, very little is known about the health of specific offender groups. Three waves of an Australian Inmate Health Survey were used to describe the self-reported and objectively tested health of men incarcerated for sexual offences against children only (ISOC), adults only (ISOA), and against both (age-polymorphous; ISOP) compared to men incarcerated without sexual offences. ISOC and ISOP were found to have the poorest self-reported health of all groups, with higher rates of eyesight and cardiovascular problems; however, lower rates of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C as objectively measured. There are important implications for the correctional and public health systems for addressing the health needs of specific offenders.