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Review
. 2015 Apr;105(4):e13-33.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302498. Epub 2015 Feb 25.

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of interventions to improve the health of persons during imprisonment and in the year after release

Fiona G Kouyoumdjian  1 , Kathryn E McIsaac, Jessica Liauw, Samantha Green, Fareen Karachiwalla, Winnie Siu, Kaite Burkholder, Ingrid Binswanger, Lori Kiefer, Stuart A Kinner, Mo Korchinski, Flora I Matheson, Pam Young, Stephen W Hwang
Affiliations
Review

A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of interventions to improve the health of persons during imprisonment and in the year after release

Fiona G Kouyoumdjian et al. Am J Public Health. 2015 Apr.

Abstract

We systematically reviewed randomized controlled trials of interventions to improve the health of people during imprisonment or in the year after release. We searched 14 biomedical and social science databases in 2014, and identified 95 studies. Most studies involved only men or a majority of men (70/83 studies in which gender was specified); only 16 studies focused on adolescents. Most studies were conducted in the United States (n = 57). The risk of bias for outcomes in almost all studies was unclear or high (n = 91). In 59 studies, interventions led to improved mental health, substance use, infectious diseases, or health service utilization outcomes; in 42 of these studies, outcomes were measured in the community after release. Improving the health of people who experience imprisonment requires knowledge generation and knowledge translation, including implementation of effective interventions.

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Figures

FIGURE 1—
FIGURE 1—
Flow diagram of studies included in this systematic review: 2014. Note. RCT = randomized controlled trial. Source. Moher et al.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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