Citation

Fitch KV, Pence BW, Rosen DL, Miller VE, Gaynes BN, Swilley-Martinez ME, Kavee AL, Carey TS, Proescholdbell SK, Ranapurwala SI. Am. J. Epidemiol. 2023; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2023, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/aje/kwad214

PMID

37939151

Abstract

We aimed to compare rates and characteristics of suicide mortality in formerly incarcerated people to the general population in North Carolina (NC). We conducted a retrospective cohort study of 266,400 people released from NC state prisons between January 1, 2000 and March 1, 2020. Using direct and indirect standardization by age, sex, and calendar year, we calculated standardized suicide mortality rates and standardized mortality ratios comparing formerly incarcerated people to the NC general population. We evaluated effect modification by race-ethnicity, sex, age, and firearm involvement. Formerly incarcerated people had approximately twice the overall suicide mortality of the general population for three years after release, with the highest rate of suicide mortality being in the two-week period after release. In contrast to patterns in the general population, formerly incarcerated people had higher non-firearm-involved suicide mortality rates than firearm-involved suicide mortality rates. Formerly incarcerated female, White and Hispanic/Latino, and emerging adult people had greater elevation of suicide mortality compared to their general population peers than did other groups. These findings suggest a need for long-term support for formerly incarcerated people as they return to community living and identify opportunities for interventions that reduce the harms of incarceration for especially vulnerable groups.

Language: en

Keywords

suicide; mortality; race; prison; incarceration