ArticleBMC public health2017
Inside the nation's largest mental health institution: a prevalence study in a state prison system.
Article in BMC public health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
61 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 172 citations in OpenAlex.
- The use of virtual reality in forensic-correctional psychiatric settings: A systematic review.Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence of overweight and obesity in incarcerated individuals in developed and developing countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Pooled it
- Association between mental illness and disciplinary confinement and its effect on mental health: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Using physiological biomarkers in forensic psychiatry: a scoping review.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Common mental disorders and associated factors among Ethiopian prisoners: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of a Yoga-Based Intervention Targeting Anger Management for People Who Are Incarcerated.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2025Trial
- "There Needs To Be More People Sharing That Information Across the Nation": Opportunities to Promote HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Awareness and Uptake among People Releasing from Jail or Prison.Research square · 2026Article
- Unveiling Intersecting Experiences: Investigating Health Care and Jail System Interaction Before and After Incarceration Among Adults with Serious Mental Illness in San Francisco.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2026Article
- Mental health treatment experiences before, during, and after incarceration: Perspectives of formerly incarcerated Black men.Psychological services · 2026Article
- Epidemiological analysis of schizophrenia and incarceration: A multi-center exploration of the criminalization of mental illness in the United States.Schizophrenia research · 2026Article
- The Metabolic Mind: Revisiting Glucose Metabolism and Justice Involvement in Neurolaw.NeuroSci · 2025Article
- Epidemiology of psychiatric disorders in Texas prisons from 2016 to 2023.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2025Article
- From Bacillus Criminalis to the Legalome: Will Neuromicrobiology Impact 21st Century Criminal Justice?Brain sciences · 2025Article
- The lasting impact of incarceration: A qualitative thematic analysis of mental health in formerly incarcerated Black men.Social science & medicine (1982) · 2025Article
- Article
- Interventions to Improve HIV Care Continuum Outcomes for People With HIV Who Have Incarceration Experience: A Narrative Review.Open forum infectious diseases · 2025Review
- Examining the timing of mental health contacts across female offending trajectories.Health & justice · 2025Article
- Substance use disorders, severe mental illness and risk of reoffending among women released from prison: a national cohort study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Legalomics: why microbiology matters to the promotion of just societies.Sustainable microbiology · 2025Review
- Diversion into mental health treatment: a survey of magistrates and treatment plans.Psychiatry, psychology, and law : an interdisciplinary journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law · 2025Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world which has created a public health crisis. Correctional facilities have become a front line for mental health care. Public health research in this setting could inform criminal justice reform. We determined prevalence rates for mental illnesses and related comorbidities among all inmates in a state prison system.
methodsCross-sectional study using the Iowa Corrections Offender Network which contains health records of all inmates in Iowa. The point prevalence of both ICD-9 and DSM-IV codes for mental illnesses, timing of diagnosis and interval between incarceration and mental illness diagnosis were determined.
resultsThe average inmate (N = 8574) age was 36.7 ± 12.4 years; 17% were ≥50 years. The majority of inmates were men (91%) and white (65%).Obesity was prevalent in 38% of inmates, and 51% had a history of smoking. Almost half of inmates were diagnosed with a mental illness (48%), of whom, 29% had a serious mental illness (41% of all females and 27% of all males), and 26% had a history of a substance use disorder. Females had higher odds of having both a mental illness and substance use disorder. Almost all mental illness diagnoses were first made during incarceration (99%). The mean interval to diagnosis of depression, anxiety, PTSD and personality disorders were 26, 24, 21 and 29 months respectively. Almost 90% of mental illnesses were recognized by the 6
conclusionsThere is a substantial burden of mental illness among inmates. Racial, age and gender disparities in mental health care are coupled with a general delay in diagnosis and treatment. A large part of understanding the mental health problem in this country starts at prisons.
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