Citation

Matheson FI, McIsaac KE, Fung K, Stewart LA, Wilton G, Keown LA, Nathens AB, Colantonio A, Moineddin R. Brain Inj. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/02699052.2020.1753114

PMID

32324431

Abstract

Background: Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a serious hidden health issue disproportionately affecting people who experience incarceration.Objective: We examined the association between TBI and serious disciplinary charges among men and women sentenced by the courts to terms of two or more years.Methods: The study originated in Ontario, Canada and used linked administrative health and correctional data. The cohort included adults experiencing their first federal sentence between 1998 and 2011 (N = 12,038). We examined disciplinary charges incurred 2 years post-sentence commencement. TBI was defined using the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9 and ICD-10) diagnostic codes. Robust Poisson regression was conducted to assess the association between TBI and disciplinary charges.Findings: The prevalence of TBI for the full sample was 13.2%. One-third of adults with a recent TBI had a serious disciplinary charge. The unadjusted risk of incurring a serious charge for those with a history of TBI was 39% higher than those with no history of TBI (CI: 1.29-1.49). The adjusted risk was 1.14 (CI: 1.06-1.22).Conclusions: TBI is a serious health concern that makes it difficult for incarcerants to adjust to prison. Additional support/resources are needed to support those with histories of TBI.

Language: en

Keywords

Serious charges; data linkage; longitudinal; prison; sex differences