Criteria for including and excluding studies in this review
| Inclusion | Exclusion | |
| Population | Adults experiencing incarceration, aged 18 and over, worldwide, during the COVID-19 pandemic | Studies not based on people experiencing incarceration (eg, forensic hospitals, migrants in detention centres People experiencing incarceration under the age of 18, in juvenile or youth prisons Studies on people after release from incarceration Studies on the families of people experiencing incarceration Studies on staff working in prisons |
| Exposure | SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 | Studies based on other pandemics or infectious diseases Studies covering the judicial process for example, trial, bail, parole |
| Comparators/Controls | Comparison to the public Comparison to other minoritised groups Comparing from during to before the pandemic Comparators between prison population subgroups | Studies with no comparison |
| Outcomes | Clinical outcomes of COVID-19: Incidence/prevalence/transmission rate Hospitalisation rate Mortality rate Vaccine uptake Long term effects of COVID-19, for example, long COVID and mental health outcomes Secondary outcomes: Health inequalities during the pandemic | Clinical outcomes not measured or health inequalities not reported |
| Study design | Hierarchy of evidence with no restriction on study design; prioritising primary evidence, observational studies (such as surveys, case studies and cohort studies) | Systematic or scoping reviews Opinion pieces News reports |