ArticleBMJ open2021
Scoping review of mental health in prisons through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 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
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 108 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people experiencing incarceration: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2024Pooled it
- Mental Health of Prison Inmates During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.International journal of public health · 2024Pooled it
- "Highly committed but overwhelmed by constraints": a qualitative study of officials' and health staff's perspectives on the prison mental health system in Cambodia.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Mixed-methods investigation into the prevalence, patterns and determinants of prisoner self-harm during the COVID-19 pandemic in England and Wales compared with prepandemic self-harm (COPE).BMJ public health · 2025Article
- The COVID-19 pandemic and older adults in prison: a brief report from a nominal group.The journal of forensic psychiatry & psychology · 2025Article
- Spatiotemporal Facility-Level Patterns of Summer Heat Exposure, Vulnerability, and Risk in United States Prison Landscapes.GeoHealth · 2024Article
- Prevalence of skin diseases among elderly prisoners in Taiwan: an examination of skin health in prison.BMC geriatrics · 2024Article
- Suicide mortality among individuals in federal prisons compared with the general population: a retrospective cohort study in the USA from 2009 to 2020.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Lessons Learned from COVID-19 Response in Correctional and Detention Facilities.Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Review
- Article
- Stress and Anxiety Among Correctional Health Care Professionals in a U.S. State Prison System During COVID-19.Journal of correctional health care : the official journal of the National Commission on Correctional Health Care · 2024Article
- The prevalence of mental illness in young people in custody over time: a comparison of three surveys in New South Wales.Psychiatry, psychology, and law : an interdisciplinary journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law · 2024Article
- "It's just us sitting there for 23 hours like we done something wrong": Isolation, incarceration, and the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS one · 2024Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for children in custody: An analysis of inspection reports.PloS one · 2024Article
- Excess mortality in U.S. prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic.Science advances · 2023Article
- Layered Screening and Contact-Limiting Interventions Are Necessary to Reduce SARS-Cov-2 Outbreak Risks in Large Urban Jails.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Article
- The Floating Signifier of 'Safety': Correctional Officer Perspectives on COVID-19 Restrictions, Legitimacy and Prison Order.The British journal of criminology · 2023Article
- Meanings and Experiences of Prisoners and Family Members Affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Brazilian Prison Unit: A Grounded Theory Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Coping strategies of the incarcerated during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review protocol of quantitative and qualitative evidence.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Fear of COVID-19, Mental Health and Resilient Coping in Young Adult Male Inmates: A Portuguese Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo examine the extent, nature and quality of literature on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of imprisoned people and prison staff.
designScoping review. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Global Health, Cochrane, PsycINFO, PsychExtra, Web of Science and Scopus were searched for any paper from 2019 onwards that focused on the mental health impact of COVID-19 on imprisoned people and prison staff. A grey literature search focused on international and government sources and professional bodies representing healthcare, public health and prison staff was also performed. We also performed hand searching of the reference lists of included studies. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF STUDIES: All papers, regardless of study design, were included if they examined the mental health of imprisoned people or prison staff specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Imprisoned people could be of any age and from any countries. All languages were included. Two independent reviewers quality assessed appropriate papers.
resultsOf 647 articles found, 83 were eligible for inclusion, the majority (58%) of which were opinion pieces. The articles focused on the challenges to prisoner mental health. Fear of COVID-19, the impact of isolation, discontinuation of prison visits and reduced mental health services were all likely to have an adverse effect on the mental well-being of imprisoned people. The limited research and poor quality of articles included mean that the findings are not conclusive. However, they suggest a significant adverse impact on the mental health and well-being of those who live and work in prisons.
conclusionsIt is key to address the mental health impacts of the pandemic on people who live and work in prisons. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for getting the balance between infection control imperatives and the fundamental human rights of prison populations.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.