Patterns of sexual behaviors and related factors among prisoners in Iran: results from a national survey in 2015

• Date: 02 September 2019
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPH-10-2018-0052
• Published date: 02 September 2019
• Pages: 29-37
• Author: Ghobad Moradi,Amjad Mohamadi-Bolbanabad,Sonia Darvishi,Fatemeh Azimian Zavareh,Bakhtiar Piroozi,Bushra Zareie,Mohammad-Mehdi Gouya,Mehrzad Tashakorian
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Criminology & forensic psychology,Prisoner health,Sociology,Sociology of crime & law,Public policy & environmental management,Policing,Criminal justice

Patterns of sexual behaviors and related

factors among prisoners in Iran: results

from a national survey in 2015

Ghobad Moradi, Amjad Mohamadi-Bolbanabad, Sonia Darvishi, Fatemeh Azimian Zavareh,

Bakhtiar Piroozi, Bushra Zareie, Mohammad-Mehdi Gouya and Mehrzad Tashakorian

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 ¼3,027) had a history of “unsafe sex in the lifetime”of whom 53.4 percent

(n ¼1,549) 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 ¼1.79,

CI: 1.41–2.28), being single (AOR ¼1.32, CI: 1.18–1.47), unemployed before imprisonment (AOR ¼1.45,

CI: 1.06–1.97), having history of previous imprisonment (AOR ¼1.31, CI: 1.17–1.47) and history of drug use

in the lifetime (AOR ¼1.53, CI: 1.35–1.75).

Originality/value –Prisoners are high-risk groups that are prone to practice unsafe sex. Prisoners who

are single, unemploye d before imprisonment, a drug user, wi th a higher level of educa tion 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 Substance abuse, Harm reduction, Health in prison, Blood-borne viral infections, Prisoners,

Sexual health

Paper type Research paper

Introduction

The increase in the population of prisoners worldwide has resulted in many problems,

ranging from over crowding and poor h ygiene to aggres sive sexual abuse; the se problems

are often associa ted with or origina ted from drug use and other prison-rel ated factors

(Alvarez et al., 2014; Ataei et al., 2011). High-risk behaviors such as drug use, high-risk sex

and violence are mo re prevalent among prisoners tha n among the general p opulation

(Butler, Mal acova, Richters, Yap, Grant, Richa rds, Smith and Donovan, 2013; Macalin o et al.,

2004; O’Grady et al., 2011).

High-risk sexual behaviors are one of the most important risk factors in prisons for the incidence

of HIV, other blood-borne diseases and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (Adams et al.,

2013; Khan et al., 2015). A number of studies show that the prevalence of STIs in prisoners is six

to seven times higher than that among the general population (Domingues et al., 2017; Hanoch

and Gummerum, 2011; Khan et al., 2015; O’Grady et al., 2011). Thus, prisoners with high-risk

sexual behaviors can further spread infections.

Received 29 October 2018

Revised 6 February 2019

24 April 2019

18 June 2019

18 June 2019

Accepted 20 June 2019

The authors have no conflicts of

interest associatedwith the material

presented in this pap er. The

authors would like to give special

thanks to interviewersfor their

assistance in implementingthe

survey. The authorsare grateful to

the Centre for Communicable

Diseases Control,Ministry of Health

and Medical Education of I.R.Iran

for their technical assistanceand

financial support.

(Information about the authors

can be found at the end of

this article.)

DOI 10.1108/IJPH-10-2018-0052 VOL. 16 NO. 1 2020, pp. 29-37, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1744-9200

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INTERNATIONALJOURNAL OF PRISONER HEALTH

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