Anthropometric measurements associated with the length of incarceration of people deprived of liberty

Wanessa Cristina Baccon, PhD Student, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brazil.

PhD Maria Aparecida Salci, Professor, Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, PR, Brazil.

The article titled Anthropometric measurements associated with the length of incarceration of persons deprived of liberty by Baccon et al (2023) was conducted with 220 men deprived of liberty in a Custody House in a medium-sized municipality in the state of Paraná.

The cross-sectional study showed that 71.4% of people deprived of liberty were incarcerated for a maximum of one year and 28.6% for more than one year. The average age of these men was 31 years, and the predominant reason for imprisonment was psychoactive substance trafficking and/or association with trafficking (39.5%). Most of them were repeat offenders and 74.1% had been incarcerated twice or more.

Image: Agência Brasil.

There was a significant association between length of incarceration and waist circumference. The results of Spearman’s correlation showed that with the increase in time of incarceration, there was a decrease in anthropometric measurements, with a negative relation of weak magnitude and significant only for the conicity index. Adjusted models controlled by length of incarceration showed significant associations with age in years and waist circumference; age with waist and height ratio; and age with years of study and having a partner with the conicity index.

The anthropometric variables directly influenced the development of chronic noncommunicable diseases. Thus, strategies that minimize the risks and harms to the health of this vulnerable population must be developed. The innovative character of the study is reinforced by the scarcity of evidence correlating the length of incarceration with anthropometric factors in this population in the Brazilian context.

This study was developed with support of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel-Brazil (CAPES) – Financing code 001.

To read the article, access

BACCON, W.C., et al. Anthropometric measures associated with incarceration length of persons deprived of their liberty. Acta Paul Enferm [online]. 2023, vol. 36, eAPE02882 [viewed 28 June 2023]. https://doi.org/10.37689/acta-ape/2023AO02882. Available from: https://www.scielo.br/j/ape/a/VTnmGWX6v8kbzyLJDPcCDyt/?lang=en

External links

Acta Paulista de Enfermagem – APE: https://www.scielo.br/j/ape