TY - JOUR PY - 2011// TI - Risk factors for all-cause, overdose and early deaths after release from prison in Washington state JO - Drug and alcohol dependence A1 - Binswanger, Ingrid A. A1 - Blatchford, Patrick J. A1 - Lindsay, Rebecca G. A1 - Stern, Marc F. SP - 1 EP - 6 VL - 117 IS - 1 N2 - BACKGROUND: High mortality rates after release from prison have been well-documented, particularly from overdose. However, little is known about the risk factors for death after release from prison. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the demographic and incarceration-related risk factors for all-cause, overdose and early mortality after release from prison. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of inmates released from a state prison system from 1999 through 2003. The cohort included 30,237 who had a total of 38,809 releases from prison. Potential risk factors included gender, race/ethnicity, age, length of incarceration, and community supervision. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to determine risk factors for all-cause, overdose and early (within 30 days of release) death after release from prison. RESULTS: Age over 50 was associated with an increased risk for all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 2.67 for each decade increase, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.23, 3.20) but not for overdose deaths or early deaths. Latinos were at decreased risk of death compared to Whites only for all-cause mortality (HR 0.61, 95% CI 0.42, 0.87). Increasing years of incarceration were associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality (HR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91, 0.99) and overdose deaths (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.68, 0.95), but not early deaths. Gender and type of release were not significantly associated with all-cause, overdose or early deaths. CONCLUSIONS: Age, ethnicity and length of incarceration were associated with mortality after release from prison. Interventions to reduce mortality among former inmates are needed.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0376-8716 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2010.11.029 ID - ref1 ER -