Health-related quality of life and socioeconomic status of imprisoned middle-age and elderly persons

The purpose of the article is to study the influence of socioeconomic statuses (SES) on the Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of persons imprisoned and preliminarily determine how applicable the “age-as-leveler” hypothesis and the “cumulative advantage/disadvantage” theory are to explaining this influence in the specific conditions of imprisonment. HRQoL among inmates is significantly lower than those in national populations. The influence of SES on HRQoL among inmates is described as insufficient. Over 2013–2016, 694 imprisoned men were studied. HRQoL estimation was conducted using the SF-6D questionnaire. In addition, marital status was studied, residence before imprisonment, as well as the Charlson comorbidity index. It was for the first time identified that the level of the HRQoL measures among persons imprisoned is affected by their level of education and marital status. The level of the effect of the inmate’s household income on HRQoL measures is less than in the population as a whole. The effect of SES on HRQoL among elderly persons in prison is unverifiable. With different values of the Charlson comorbidity index, a different level of HRQoL measures is noted regardless of age. A suggestion was voiced that under specific conditions of imprisonment, particularly, the hypothesis “age-as-leveler” more closely describes HRQoL measures, meanwhile “cumulative advantage/disadvantage” under the conditions of imprisonment possibly does not yield a significant effect. HRQoL of prisoners with higher education, family support, and high-quality medical care is higher than average among prisoners. Taking these factors into account, it would be useful to undertake a longitudinal study of HRQoL when changing parameters of SES.