SynthesisPloS one2022
The health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults who experience imprisonment globally: A mixed methods systematic review.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 3 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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- The effectiveness of non-exposure to incarceration in preventing COVID-19 and mitigating associated events: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- 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
- Exploring reasons and motivations for suicide attempts in prison before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.Health & justice · 2025Article
- COVID-19 impacts on decarceration for Indigenous, Black, and other racialized people in Ontario, Canada: an interrupted time series study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2025Article
- 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
- Rapid jail-based implementation of overdose education and naloxone distribution in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.Health & justice · 2024Article
- Tuberculosis case notifications and outcomes in Peruvian prisons prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a national-level interrupted time series analysis.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2024Article
- Genomic Epidemiology of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 in a County Jail.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Suicide Risk Screening and Assessment before and after the COVID-19 Pandemic in New Inmates.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Excess mortality in U.S. prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic.Science advances · 2023Article
- Gender differences in oral health among prisoners: a cross-sectional study from Taiwan.BMC oral health · 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
- 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
- Article
- Brazilian pulmonology guidelines on Delphi panel for post-coronavirus disease 2019: reflections on persons deprived of liberty.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2023Article
- Mental Health of Nurses Working in a Judicial Psychiatry Hospital during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy: An Online Survey.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe prison setting and health status of people who experience imprisonment increase the risks of COVID-19 infection and sequelae, and other health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
objectivesTo conduct a mixed methods systematic review on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of people who experience imprisonment. DATA SOURCES: We searched Medline, PsycINFO, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Social Sciences Abstracts, CINAHL, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Sociology Database, Coronavirus Research Database, ERIC, Proquest Dissertations and Theses, Web of Science, and Scopus in October 2021. We reviewed reference lists for included studies. STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Original research conducted in or after December 2019 on health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on adults in prisons or within three months of release. STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS
methodsWe used the Joanna Briggs Institute's Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research for qualitative studies and the Joanna Briggs Institute's Critical Appraisal Checklist for Studies Reporting Prevalence Data for quantitative studies. We qualitized quantitative data and extracted qualitative data, coded data, and collated similar data into categories.
resultsWe identified 62 studies. People in prisons had disproportionately high rates of COVID-19 infection and COVID-19 mortality. During the pandemic, all-cause mortality worsened, access to health care and other services worsened, and there were major impacts on mental wellbeing and on relationships with family and staff. There was limited evidence regarding key primary and secondary prevention strategies. LIMITATIONS: Our search was limited to databases. As the COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing, more evidence will emerge.
conclusionsPrisons and people who experience imprisonment should be prioritized for COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, and an explicit focus on prisons is needed for ongoing public health work including emergency preparedness. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: 239324.
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.