Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36669512›Full record

ArticleThe Lancet. Public health2023

Psychiatric disorders and reoffending risk in individuals with community sentences in Sweden: a national cohort study.

Denis Yukhnenko, Nigel Blackwood, Paul Lichtenstein, Seena Fazel

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The Lancet. Public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
3.1field-weighted citation impact, top 9% 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, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Change in Clinical Risk Factors During Stay and Treatment in a Penitentiary Psychiatric Center.International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology · 2025
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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

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Denis YukhnenkoDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Nigel BlackwoodInstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Paul LichtensteinDepartment of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden.
Seena FazelDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. Electronic address: seena.fazel@psych.ox.ac.uk.
Karolinska Institutet · SEKing's College London · GBUniversity of Oxford · GB

Funding

Wellcome Trust 202836Wellcome Trust 202836/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCommunity sentences are widely used in many countries, often comprising the majority of criminal justice sanctions. Psychiatric disorders are highly prevalent in community-sentenced populations and are thus potential targets for treatment interventions designed to reduce reoffending. We examined the association between psychiatric disorders and reoffending in a national cohort of individuals given community sentences in Sweden, with use of a sibling control design to account for unmeasured familial confounding.

methodsWe did a longitudinal cohort study of 82 415 individuals given community sentences between Nov 1, 1991, and Dec 31, 2013, in Sweden using data from population-based registers. We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) for any reoffending and violent reoffending with Cox regression models. We compared community-sentenced siblings with and without psychiatric disorders to control for potential familial confounding. Additionally, we calculated population attributable fractions to assess the contribution of psychiatric disorders to reoffending behaviours. The primary outcomes of the study were any (general) reoffending and violent reoffending.

findingsBetween Nov 1, 1991, and Dec 31, 2013, those given community sentences who were diagnosed with any psychiatric disorder had an increased reoffending risk in men (adjusted HR 1·59, 95% CI 1·56-1·63 for any reoffending; 1·60, 1·54-1·66 for violent reoffending) and women (1·71, 1·61-1·82 for any reoffending; 2·19, 1·88-2·54 for violent reoffending). Risk estimates remained elevated after adjustment for familial confounding. Schizophrenia spectrum disorders, personality disorders, and substance use disorders had stronger associations with violent reoffending than did other psychiatric disorders. Assuming causality, the adjusted population attributable risk of psychiatric disorders on violent reoffending was 8·3% (95% CI 6·6-10·0) in the first 2 years of community follow-up in men and 30·9% (22·7-39·0) in women.

interpretationPsychiatric disorders were associated with an increased risk of any reoffending and violent reoffending in the community-sentenced population. The magnitude of the association between psychiatric disorders and reoffending varied by individual diagnosis. Substance use disorders had the highest absolute and relative risks. Most of the increased risk for any reoffending in individuals with psychiatric disorders could be attributed to comorbid substance misuse. Given their high prevalence, substance use disorders should be the focus of treatment programmes in community-sentenced populations.

fundingWellcome Trust.

Indexed as

Mental DisordersSubstance-Related DisordersCohort StudiesFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleSwedenViolence

Identifiers

PMID36669512
PMCPMC10914666
OpenAlexW4317678600

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.