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Rates of Prescribed Medication Use by Women in Prison

NCJ Number
199342
Journal
Forum on Corrections Research Volume: 14 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2002 Pages: 10-14
Author(s)
Neima Langner; Joanne Barton; Donna McDonagh; Christine Noel; Francoise Bouchard
Date Published
May 2002
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the use of prescribed medications among incarcerated Federal women offenders.
Abstract
This study, conducted by the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), aimed to assess the magnitude of medication use among incarcerated women in terms of the total number of medications per woman; the category or type of specific medication; identification of medications that were over the counter (OTC); and identification of prescribing patterns. Medication profiles were collected from either the Health Services Units in the 11 women’s institutions or the individual pharmacies that provided service to the institutions. Results show that the most common type of prescription medications were psychotropics (42 percent) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (34 percent), followed by peptic ulcer therapy (23 percent), asthma treatment (21 percent), allergy treatment (18 percent), anemia treatment (9 percent), birth control (8 percent), narcotics (8 percent), hormone replacement therapy (7 percent), skeletal muscle relaxants (7 percent), and migraine treatments (7 percent). These figures included OTC medications. The prescription medication rates for women offenders in this study were much higher than for women in the general Canadian population. Contributing to high numbers of medication orders was the nature of medication dispensation in institutions, financial accessibility of medication, and accessibility to unconventional therapies within CSC institutions. Women offenders are more prone to experiencing a greater number of health concerns at a younger age than the general population. This may be due to extremely traumatic life and childhood histories. The data suggest that over-prescribing and multiple prescribing of psychotropics may be problematic in some institutions. The variation across regions suggests that there could be room for improvement in prescribing practices. 3 figures, 2 tables, 14 notes