Risk of death for young ex-prisoners in the year following release from adult prison

Abstract

Background: In the community, all-cause mortality rates among those younger than 25 years are considerably lower than those of older adults and are largely attributable to risk-taking behaviours. However, given the unique health profiles of prisoners, this pattern may not be replicated among those leaving prison. We compared rates and patterns of mortality among young and older ex-prisoners in Queensland, Australia. Methods: We linked the identities of 42,015 persons (n=14,920 aged <25 years) released from adult prisons in Queensland, Australia with the Australian National Death Index. Observations were censored at death or 365 days from release. We used Cox proportional hazards regression t..