#0080 Prevalence of hypertension and associated factors in female prison correctional officers in a national sample in Brazil
Hypertension Is a Major Problem for Brazil’s Female Correctional Officers
Brazil has the third largest prison population in the world, and the Brazilian prison system is rife with overcrowded prisons and dangerously high prisoner-to-guard ratios. This makes working as a correctional officer a highly stressful position. Female correctional officers find these stresses compounded by sex-specific biological and social factors, such as their family roles. Working as correctional officers exposes women to many hazards that increase the risk of systemic arterial hypertension, including night shifts, irregular work shifts, reduced physical activity time, long periods of sitting, and job-related stress. We, therefore, hypothesized that these factors can lead to a high prevalence of hypertension in female correctional officers in Brazilian prisons.
To test this hypothesis, we collected data from 295 women who worked as correctional officers at 15 women’s prisons located in all five regions of Brazil. Data collection occurred in 2014 and 2015, and the selected women had worked in their roles for at least 6 months. The data recorded for each woman included blood pressure, weight, waist circumference, and hip circumference.
We found that hypertension was present in 37.9% of the women, a prevalence higher than that found in the general population. Alarmingly, most of these women were not previously aware that they had hypertension. The rates of hypertension were higher in women who were obese, women who reported having a cardiovascular disease, and women who reported having undergone specific training for correctional officers before, during, or after starting work at the prison.
Our findings are important because they provide the first quantification of the problem of hypertension in female correctional officers in Brazil. These women experience hypertension at elevated rates, and they themselves see job-related stresses as contributing to the problem. With Brazilian prison populations continuing to grow, we urge the Brazilian authorities to take steps to protect female correctional officers from hypertension. This is important for the wellbeing of both the officers themselves and the prisoners who are under their care.
Link to the original journal article:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/1348-9585.12163
Title of the paper:
Prevalence of hypertension and associated factors in female prison correctional officers in a national sample in Brazil
Authors:
Ana Zaira da Silva, Rosa Maria Salani Mota, Raimunda Hermelinda Maia Macena, Roberto da Justa Pires Neto, Marcelo José Monteiro Ferreira, Priscila França de Araújo, Thereza Maria Magalhães Moreira, David W. Seal, Carl Kendall, and Ligia Regina Franco Sansigolo Kerr
