Latent tuberculosis infection in a Malaysian prison: implications for a comprehensive integrated control program in prisons

Table 1 Comparison of HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative prisoners (N = 286)

Variables	Total (N = 286)	HIV-seropositive (N = 138)	HIV-seronegative (N = 148)	P-value
Gender				<0.0001
Male	272	124	148
Female	14	14	0
Age (mean, years)	36.59	37.45	35.80	0.07
Nationality				0.02
Malaysian	281	133	148
Foreign-borne	5	5	0
Ethnicity				1.00
Malay	190	92	98
Non-Malay	96	46	50
Completed primary education				0.89
Yes	197	96	101
No	89	42	47
Pre-incarceration employment				0.14
No	25	16	9
Yes	261	122	139
Pre-incarceration stable housing				0.005
No	51	34	17
Yes	235	104	131
Pre-incarceration tobacco smoking				1.00
No	5	2	3
Yes	281	136	145
Pre-incarceration alcohol consumption				0.79
No	87	43	44
Yes	199	95	104
Ever shared needles before incarceration				<0.0001
No	134	12	122
Yes	152	126	26
BCG vaccination				0.53
No	24	10	14
Yes	272	128	134
Previous TB				0.001
No	267	122	145
Yes	19	16	3
Duration of current incarceration (mean, months)	31.87	23.23	39.76	<0.0001
Duration of the sentence served (mean, days)	182.68	160.39	203.47	0.16
Ever incarcerated				<0.0001
Yes	236	132	104
No	50	6	44
Number of incarcerations (mean, times)	3.9	5.4	2.5	<0.0001
Total duration of previous incarcerations (mean, months)	51.7	67.7	37.0	<0.0001

ISSN: 1471-2458