SynthesisAmerican journal of public health2012
All-cause and external mortality in released prisoners: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in American journal of public health, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 95 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
95 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Incidence of physical non-communicable disease in people who have experienced imprisonment compared with the general population in high-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2026Pooled it
- Drug use among people in prison: A global review of epidemiology, harms and interventions.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2026Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of Substance Misuse Treatment Processes and Outcomes as Implemented in Prisons for Men in the UK.Criminal behaviour and mental health : CBMH · 2025Pooled it
- Sex differences in suicide, suicidal ideation, and self-harm after release from incarceration: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2023Pooled it
- Explaining the Differences in Opioid Overdose Deaths between Scotland and England/Wales: Implications for European Opioid Policies.European addiction research · 2021Pooled it
- Does criminal justice stigma affect health and health care utilization? A systematic review of public health and medical literature.International journal of prisoner health · 2020Pooled it
- Substance Use During Imprisonment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.Epidemiologic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Patient outcomes following discharge from secure psychiatric hospitals: systematic review and meta-analysis.The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 2016Pooled it
- A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of interventions to improve the health of persons during imprisonment and in the year after release.American journal of public health · 2015Pooled it
- Impact of prerelease methadone on mortality among people with HIV and opioid use disorder after prison release: results from a randomized and participant choice open-label trial in Malaysia.BMC infectious diseases · 2022Trial
- Recent Incarceration and Other Correlates of Psychological Distress Among African American and Latino Men Who Have Sex with Men.Community mental health journal · 2022Trial
- Retention in clinical trials after prison release: results from a clinical trial with incarcerated men with HIV and opioid dependence in Malaysia.HIV research & clinical practice · 2019Trial
- Leveraging lived experience: a qualitative study on the impact of formerly incarcerated consultants in public policy making to improve safety net services.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- County-level social determinants of health and suicide mortality trends among formerly incarcerated persons in North Carolina, 2010-2018.Health & justice · 2026Article
- High prevalence of criminal legal involvement among non-fatally injured ED patients - an exploratory retrospective observational cohort analysis.Health & justice · 2026Article
- Suicide prevention following conviction within the criminal justice system: a review of good practice using a social-ecological framework.BMC global and public health · 2025Review
- Structural and healthcare predictors of substance use-related death following release from incarceration: A retrospective cohort study in Rhode Island, 2018-2020.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Psychiatric disorders and mental health care among incarcerated men: A prerelease cross-sectional study in France.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2025Article
- Some improvements but a long way to go: a national survey of local authorities on the provision of social care for people released from prison.Health & justice · 2024Article
- Data linkage studies of primary care utilisation after release from prison: a scoping review.BMC primary care · 2024Article
35 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesWe systematically reviewed studies of mortality following release from prison and examined possible demographic and methodological factors associated with variation in mortality rates.
methodsWe searched 5 computer-based literature indexes to conduct a systematic review of studies that reported all-cause, drug-related, suicide, and homicide deaths of released prisoners. We extracted and meta-analyzed crude death rates and standardized mortality ratios by age, gender, and race/ethnicity, where reported.
resultsEighteen cohorts met review criteria reporting 26,163 deaths with substantial heterogeneity in rates. The all-cause crude death rates ranged from 720 to 2054 per 100,000 person-years. Male all-cause standardized mortality ratios ranged from 1.0 to 9.4 and female standardized mortality ratios from 2.6 to 41.3. There were higher standardized mortality ratios in White, female, and younger prisoners.
conclusionsReleased prisoners are at increased risk for death following release from prison, particularly in the early period. Aftercare planning for released prisoners could potentially have a large public health impact, and further work is needed to determine whether certain groups should be targeted as part of strategies to reduce mortality.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.