Patterns of sexual behaviors and related factors among prisoners in Iran: results from a national survey in 2015
International Journal of Prisoner Health
ISSN: 1744-9200
Article publication date: 18 September 2019
Issue publication date: 10 February 2020
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine patterns of sexual behaviors and related factors among prisoners in Iran, 2015.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study was a part of a bio-behavioral surveillance survey conducted on 6,200 prisoners in 26 prisons in Iran. The subjects were selected through multi-stage sampling. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data on participant’s demographics and history of sexual behaviors. Using STATA-12 software, the collected data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, and crude and adjusted logistic regression.
Findings
A total of 5,508 prisoners with a response rate of 88.8 percent participated in this study. Of all prisoners, 55 percent (n=3,027) had a history of “unsafe sex in the lifetime” of whom 53.4 percent (n=1,549) never used condoms during unsafe sex in the lifetime. Based on the results of multivariate analysis, risk factors for “unsafe sex in lifetime” were the following: higher level of education (AOR=1.79, CI: 1.41–2.28), being single (AOR=1.32, CI: 1.18–1.47), unemployed before imprisonment (AOR=1.45, CI: 1.06–1.97), having history of previous imprisonment (AOR=1.31, CI: 1.17–1.47) and history of drug use in the lifetime (AOR=1.53, CI: 1.35–1.75).
Originality/value
Prisoners are high-risk groups that are prone to practice unsafe sex. Prisoners who are single, unemployed before imprisonment, a drug user, with a higher level of education and with a history of imprisonment are likely to be sexually active in their lifetime. Thus, they are a priority for receiving suitable interventions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors have no conflicts of interest associated with the material presented in this paper. The authors would like to give special thanks to interviewers for their assistance in implementing the survey. The authors are grateful to the Centre for Communicable Diseases Control, Ministry of Health and Medical Education of I.R. Iran for their technical assistance and financial support.
Citation
Moradi, G., Mohamadi-Bolbanabad, A., Darvishi, S., Azimian Zavareh, F., Piroozi, B., Zareie, B., Gouya, M.-M. and Tashakorian, M. (2020), "Patterns of sexual behaviors and related factors among prisoners in Iran: results from a national survey in 2015", International Journal of Prisoner Health, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 29-37. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-10-2018-0052
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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