Poor health and social outcomes for ex-prisoners with a history of mental disorder: A longitudinal study

© 2014 Public Health Association of Australia. Objective: To examine the association between self-reported lifetime diagnosis of mental disorder and health-related outcomes in prisoners during the first six months after release.Methods: We interviewed 1,324 adult prisoners in Queensland, Australia,...

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Main Authors: Cutcher, Z., Degenhardt, L., Alati, Rosa, Kinner, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/70913
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author Cutcher, Z.
Degenhardt, L.
Alati, Rosa
Kinner, S.
author_facet Cutcher, Z.
Degenhardt, L.
Alati, Rosa
Kinner, S.
author_sort Cutcher, Z.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2014 Public Health Association of Australia. Objective: To examine the association between self-reported lifetime diagnosis of mental disorder and health-related outcomes in prisoners during the first six months after release.Methods: We interviewed 1,324 adult prisoners in Queensland, Australia, within six weeks of expected release and one, three and six months post-release. Outcomes of interest included health service access, housing, employment, substance use and criminal activity. We used multivariate logistic regression to investigate the association between self-reported, lifetime diagnosis of mental disorder and these health-related outcomes post-release, adjusting for pre-existing disadvantage.Results: 43.4% of participants reported a lifetime diagnosis of mental disorder. This group had increased crude odds of poor outcomes across all evaluated domains. After adjusting for pre-existing disadvantage, significantly increased odds of poor outcomes persisted in the substance use, mental health, crime and health service access domains.Conclusions: People with a history of mental disorder experience particularly poor outcomes following release from prison that are not fully explained by pre-existing disadvantage. Implications: Evidence-based transitional programs for prisoners with a history of mental disorder should be provided at a level commensurate with need.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-709132018-12-13T09:33:09Z Poor health and social outcomes for ex-prisoners with a history of mental disorder: A longitudinal study Cutcher, Z. Degenhardt, L. Alati, Rosa Kinner, S. © 2014 Public Health Association of Australia. Objective: To examine the association between self-reported lifetime diagnosis of mental disorder and health-related outcomes in prisoners during the first six months after release.Methods: We interviewed 1,324 adult prisoners in Queensland, Australia, within six weeks of expected release and one, three and six months post-release. Outcomes of interest included health service access, housing, employment, substance use and criminal activity. We used multivariate logistic regression to investigate the association between self-reported, lifetime diagnosis of mental disorder and these health-related outcomes post-release, adjusting for pre-existing disadvantage.Results: 43.4% of participants reported a lifetime diagnosis of mental disorder. This group had increased crude odds of poor outcomes across all evaluated domains. After adjusting for pre-existing disadvantage, significantly increased odds of poor outcomes persisted in the substance use, mental health, crime and health service access domains.Conclusions: People with a history of mental disorder experience particularly poor outcomes following release from prison that are not fully explained by pre-existing disadvantage. Implications: Evidence-based transitional programs for prisoners with a history of mental disorder should be provided at a level commensurate with need. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/70913 10.1111/1753-6405.12207 Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Asia restricted
spellingShingle Cutcher, Z.
Degenhardt, L.
Alati, Rosa
Kinner, S.
Poor health and social outcomes for ex-prisoners with a history of mental disorder: A longitudinal study
title Poor health and social outcomes for ex-prisoners with a history of mental disorder: A longitudinal study
title_full Poor health and social outcomes for ex-prisoners with a history of mental disorder: A longitudinal study
title_fullStr Poor health and social outcomes for ex-prisoners with a history of mental disorder: A longitudinal study
title_full_unstemmed Poor health and social outcomes for ex-prisoners with a history of mental disorder: A longitudinal study
title_short Poor health and social outcomes for ex-prisoners with a history of mental disorder: A longitudinal study
title_sort poor health and social outcomes for ex-prisoners with a history of mental disorder: a longitudinal study
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/70913