Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Sep;104(9):1728-33.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301952. Epub 2014 Jul 17.

Older jail inmates and community acute care use

Anna H Chodos  1 , Cyrus Ahalt, Irena Stijacic Cenzer, Janet Myers, Joe Goldenson, Brie A Williams
Affiliations

Older jail inmates and community acute care use

Anna H Chodos et al. Am J Public Health. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: We examined older jail inmates' predetainment acute care use (emergency department or hospitalization in the 3 months before arrest) and their plans for using acute care after release.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of 247 jail inmates aged 55 years or older assessing sociodemographic characteristics, health, and geriatric conditions associated with predetainment and anticipated postrelease acute care use.

Results: We found that 52% of older inmates reported predetainment acute care use and 47% planned to use the emergency department after release. In modified Poisson regression, homelessness was independently associated with predetainment use (relative risk = 1.42; 95% confidence interval = 1.10, 1.83) and having a primary care provider was inversely associated with planned use (relative risk = 0.69; 95% confidence interval = 0.53, 0.89).

Conclusions: The Affordable Care Act has expanded Medicaid eligibility to all persons leaving jail in an effort to decrease postrelease acute care use in this high-risk population. Jail-to-community transitional care models that address the health, geriatric, and social factors prevalent in older adults leaving jail, and that focus on linkages to housing and primary care, are needed to enhance the impact of the act on acute care use for this population.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Washington, DC: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics; Profile of jail inmates 2002. Available at: http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=1118. Accessed September 17, 2012.
    1. Beck AJ, Berzofsky M. Washington, DC: Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics; 2010. Sexual victimization in prison and jails reported by inmates, 2008–2009. 91. Table 6. NCJ 231169.
    1. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Focus on health reform: summary of new health reform law. Available at: http://kaiserfamilyfoundation.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/8061-021.pdf. Accessed June 24, 2013.
    1. Wang EA, White MC, Jamison R, Goldenson J, Estes M, Tulsky JP. Discharge planning and continuity of health care: findings from the San Francisco County Jail. Am J Public Health. 2008;98(12):2182–2184. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mancuso D, Felver B. Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, Research and Data Analysis Division; 2010. Health care reform, Medicaid expansion and access to alcohol/drug treatment: opportunities for disability prevention. Available at: http://www.dshs.wa.gov/pdf/ms/rda/research/4/84.pdf. Accessed June 24, 2013.