Release Date
Geography
Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
In this study, we use linked administrative health and correctional data to describe mental illness, substance use, injury, sexually transmitted infections and health service utilization of men and women in federal prisons in the 3 years prior to their incarceration, compared to a matched group.
Findings/Key points
We found that, in the 3-year period prior to their incarceration, men (n = 6,134) and women (n = 449) experiencing their first federal sentence had poorer health across all indicators examined (e.g., psychosis, drug/alcohol use, and self-harm) and higher outpatient psychiatric and emergency department visits, compared with the matched group. Women in the pre-incarceration group exhibited a higher prevalence of self-harm and substance use, relative to women in the matched comparison group and higher relative prevalence to that of men in the pre-incarceration group, compared to their matched counterparts.
Design/methods
Longitudinal cohort study of 39,498 adults in Ontario, Canada between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2011 using linked administrative health and correctional data.
