A prisoner mortality study: Is being a prisoner a sign of health inequality?

Offenders are drawn from the poorest groups in society and their health experiences reflects their social position. Previous studies from other countries suggest that mortality rates are relatively low in prison but high overall, with the relative risks of death immediately following discharge from prison extremely high.This study linked data between prison records and the death registrations from the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS), UK to assess the mortality of a cohort of prisoners from 1996-2007.Early findings from this study following completion of data linkage of our 80,000 records will be presented. The analysis will describe overall levels of mortality which on preliminary results show a substantial excess. It will examine demographic and social determinants and other factors such as multiple prison episodes and time spent in prison that might explain part of the expected mortality excess. The findings will prompt questions about the widespread use of prison, its place as an independent social determinant of health and the relationship between criminal justice and social justi8ce.