The profile of prisoners with tuberculosis in Japan

Purpose Although globally, prisoners are considered one of the vulnerable groups to tuberculosis (TB), little is known about the situation of TB in prison setting in Japan. The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of TB among prisoners in Japan. Design/methodology/approach Records of TB patients from one medical prison were analyzed in terms of general demographic characteristics, clinical manifestations, risk factors and delay in diagnosis and in initiating treatment, and compared with data from the national TB surveillance and other published data on health of inmates, where appropriate. Continuous variables were compared using student independent samples t-test. Proportions were compared using χ2 or Fisher exact test as appropriate. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was conducted to determine the time from entry to prison institution to diagnosis of TB. Findings A total of 49 patients were analyzed. The mean age was 49.5 (±14.3) and 69.4 percent were males. Being unemployed and homeless prior to incarceration, and several co-morbidities were potential risk factors for TB (p