Abstract:
Background: People who are in prison have the same right to health care as everyone
else. Prison communities are the most underserved and neglected, marginalized sections
of society.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the magnitude and associated factors of
undernutrition among adult prisoners in South West Shoa Zone Prison Institute Oromia,
Ethiopia.
Methodology: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 301 adult
imprisoned people in the Southwest Shoa Zone, prison center from September 1 to
October 1, 2022. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the study
participants. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The collected
data were entered using Epi-Info version 7.2.2.2 and exported to SPSS version 20 for
analysis. Bivariate analysis was used to choose candidate variables with a cutoff of <0.25
p- values. Finally, multivariable logistic regression analysis was done to determine factors
associated with undernutrition, and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) with 95% CIs was used
to determine the strength of the association. P-value < 0.05 was used to declare statistical
significance.
Result-The prevalence of undernutrition among adult prisoners was 22.5% (95%
CI:17.40, 27.70). Having history of imprisonment (AOR 3.30,95%CI 1.46-7.47), >=49
months duration of current stay in prison (AOR 3.08; 95%CI 1.25-7.57), having ≤2
additional food (AOR 3.30, 95%CI 1.01-10.85), having poor social support (AOR 2.91,
95% CI 1.04-8.17), depression level (being moderate to severe depressive) (AOR
2.32,95% CI 1.02-5.31) and not having diversified diet (AOR 4.13,95% CI 1.69-10.16)
were factors significantly associated with undernutrition.
Conclusion and Recommendation-The magnitude of undernutrition was found to be
22.5%. History of imprisonment, duration of a prison stay, number of additional foods, a
poor level of social support, moderate to severe depression status and not having
diversified diet were identified as predictors of undernutrition. Special attention should be
given to dietary intake of imprisoned people, particularly focusing on those who had a
previous history of imprisonment, longer duration of imprisonment, depression, and no
social support.
