Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37004620›Full record

ArticleHealth & justice2023

Sex differences in pre-incarceration mental illness, substance use, injury and sexually transmitted infections and health service utilization: a longitudinal linkage study of people serving federal sentences in Ontario.

Tenzin Butsang, Arthur McLuhan, Leslie A Keown, Kinwah Fung, Flora I Matheson

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Health & justice, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 6% 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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. County health rankings, provider shortages, and the health of incarcerated women with opioid use disorder.The Journal of rural health : official journal of the American Rural Health Association and the National Rural Health Care Association · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. 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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.

Tenzin ButsangDalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Arthur McLuhanMAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Leslie A KeownResearch Branch, Correctional Service of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Kinwah FungICES, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Flora I MathesonDalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. flora.matheson@utoronto.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0965-1048
St. Michael's Hospital · CAUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada 890-2011-0027
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeople who experience incarceration have poorer health than the general population. Yet, we know little about the health and health service utilization of people during the critical period prior to their incarceration, relative to during incarceration and post-release. In this study, we conducted a longitudinal cohort study of 39,498 adults in Ontario, Canada between January 1, 2002, and December 31, 2011 using linked administrative health and correctional data to describe mental illness, substance use, injury, sexually transmitted infections and health service utilization of men and women in federal prisons in the 3 years prior to their incarceration, compared to a matched group.

resultsWe found that, in the 3-year period prior to their incarceration, men (n = 6,134) and women (n = 449) experiencing their first federal sentence had poorer health across all indicators examined (e.g., psychosis, drug/alcohol use, and self-harm) and higher outpatient psychiatric and emergency department visits, compared with the matched group. Women in the pre-incarceration group exhibited a higher prevalence of self-harm and substance use, relative to women in the matched comparison group and higher relative prevalence to that of men in the pre-incarceration group, compared to their matched counterparts.

conclusionsDisparities in health and health service utilization are gendered and exist prior to incarceration. The gendered nature of these findings, specifically the significantly higher prevalence of poor health among women across several indicators, necessitates a focus on the social and systemic factors that contribute to these disparities. Gender-responsive and trauma-informed primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention strategies, alongside transformative approaches to justice should be considered in addressing the health needs of men and women who experience incarceration.

Indexed as

Health service utilizationInjuryMental illness/substance usePre-incarcerationSex differencesSexually transmitted infections

Identifiers

PMID37004620
PMCPMC10067244
OpenAlexW4362505901

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.