Physical Health and Disability Among U.S. Adults Recently on Community Supervision

Abstract

Estimates of chronic conditions and disability among individuals on community supervision in the United States are lacking. We used 2015-2016 data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (N = 78,761) to examine the prevalence of chronic conditions and disability among nonelderly adults who had been on probation or parole in the past year, compared to adults without community supervision in the past year. The weighted sample was representative of 4,594,412 adults on community supervision and 191,156,710 adults without community supervision in the past year. Compared to the general population, adults recently on community supervision were significantly more likely to report fair or poor health, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hepatitis B or C, one or more chronic conditions, and any disability. Collaboration between health and criminal justice systems is needed to accommodate the health needs and supervision requirements for individuals with community supervision.

Keywords: chronic disease; community supervision; disability; parole; probation.