Health care needs and service use among male prison inmates in the United States: A multi-level behavioral model of prison health service utilization

摘要

BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to apply Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Health Service Use to men’s prisons to assess the direct and indirect effects of inmate predisposing characteristics through multiple types of need. Also examined are the effects of prison-specific enabling factors and the variation in use of health services across prisons. This study uses a nationally representative U.S. sample of men incarcerated in state prisons (n = 8816) and generalized structural equation and multilevel modeling. Five types of need—medical condition, illness, dental problem, unintentional injury, and intentional injury—are assessed for their association with use of health services.