Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28591187›Full record

ArticlePloS one2017

Male suicide rates in German prisons and the role of citizenship.

Daniel Radeloff, Thomas Lempp, Mattias Kettner, Amna Rauf, Katharina Bennefeld-Kersten, Christine M Freitag

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.6field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. [Health of adolescents in juvenile detention-research evidence and insights into healthcare practice].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Suicide in Older Prisoners in Germany.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019
    Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Daniel RadeloffDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8430-8306
Thomas LemppDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Mattias KettnerInstitute of Forensic Medicine, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Amna RaufDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Katharina Bennefeld-KerstenInstitute for Suicide Research, Restorf, Hoehbeck, Germany.
Christine M FreitagDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
Goethe University Frankfurt · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePrisoners are at a particularly high risk of suicide. In contrast to other psychosocial risk factors it remains unclear to what degree the risk of suicide differs between prisoners with local citizenship and foreigners. In order to provide more detailed information for suicide prevention in prisons, this study aims to compare suicide rates (SR) between these populations in German criminal custody.

methodsBased on a German national database of completed suicide in custody, suicides by prisoners were analysed and compared with epidemiological data of the prison population and the general population, stratified for German and foreign citizenship. Data analysis was adjusted for differences in the age distribution of both populations by calculating standard mortality ratios (SMR) for suicide.

resultsSR were higher in prisoners with German citizenship than those with foreign citizenship (SR = 76.5 vs. SR = 42.8, P<0.01). This association was not specific to the prison population, as the higher SR in citizens compared to non-citizens (SR = 19.3 vs. SR = 9.0, P<0.01) were also found in the general population. The association between prison suicide and citizenship was comparable in juvenile and adult prisoners, indicating its relevance to both the juvenile and adult detention systems.

conclusionImprisonment is associated with a substantially increased risk of suicide in both German and non-German citizens, a finding which needs to be taken into consideration by the justice system. The lower suicide risk in non-German citizens is independent of whether or not they are in custody.

Indexed as

Suicide PreventionAdolescentAdultAge DistributionGermanyHumansMaleMiddle AgedPrisonersPrisonsSelf-Injurious BehaviorSuicideViolenceYoung Adult

Identifiers

PMID28591187
PMCPMC5462390
OpenAlexW2623850513

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.