Health-related factors predict return to custody in a large cohort of ex-prisoners: new approaches to predicting re-incarceration

Abstract

BackgroundNumerous poor health outcomes have been documented in the world’s large and growing population of prisoners and ex-prisoners. Repeat justice involvement and incarceration is normative for ex-prisoners in most countries. This study aimed to identify important health-related predictors of re-incarceration and to quantify their contribution to predicting re-incarceration.MethodsParticipants were 1 325 adult ex-prisoners in Queensland, Australia. We developed a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model for re-incarceration including health-related covariates from a pre-release survey.ResultsIn addition to well-established risk factors (criminal history, drug-related sentence, younger..