Key papers comparing mental health outcomes among people experiencing incarceration (PEI) during the COVID-19 pandemic
| Study | Key results | Overall assessment of the quality of evidence | Mental health outcomes in PEI pre-/post-pandemic |
| Older incarcerated persons’ mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. DePalma et al10 | PHQ-8 depression scores (5.5±6.0 vs 8.1±6.5; p<.001) and GAD-7 scores (6.4±5.7 vs 7.8±6.6; p<.001) both increased (more severe symptoms) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with prior to it. A greater proportion of respondents scored a clinically significant PHQ-8 score (≥10) during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with prior (38.2% vs 22.4%). Average SRH score worsened by −0.31 (p<.001). Causal mediation model results demonstrated that worsening PHQ-8 scores predicted worsening SRH rating (β=−0.040; p<.05) | Low | ↑ |
| Suicide attempts and COVID-19 in prison: empirical findings from 2016 to 2020 in a Swiss prison. Gétaz et al76 | 57% statistically significant increase in suicides RR 1.57 (95% CI 1.10 to 2.04 p < .001) and self-harm events RR 1.57 (95% CI 1.23 to 1.92 p < .001) during the pandemic compared with pre-pandemic | Low | ↑ |
| Anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic in prisoners who had high risks to suffer from mood disorders: a longitudinal study before and during the COVID-19. Zhang et al77 | Significant trend of anxiety scores improving during the pandemic compared with prior to it (p≤.001). Significantly worsened anxiety scores during the pandemic in those who did not have anxiety prior to the pandemic (p≤.001, n=480). Improved anxiety scores for those who were suffering from anxiety pre-pandemic (p≤.001, n = 323) | Low | ↑ |
| County jails’ responses to COVID-19: practices, procedures, and provisions of behavioural health services. Comartin et al74 | Rates of significant mental illness in residents significantly higher during the early pandemic ‘spring’ period (40.5%, n=34) compared with the pre-pandemic ‘winter’ period (29.7%, n=33), with the lowest proportion found in summer (22.5%, n=43) (p<.01). The same relationship was noted in the proportion of residents who confirmed having taken psychotropic medication in the last year—highest during the spring (40.5%, n=34), compared with winter (36.7%, n=40) and summer (18.8%, n=36; p<.001) | Low | ↑ |
| Depressive, anxiety symptom frequency and related factors among prisoners during the COVID-19 pandemic in Northeastern Ethiopia, a cross-sectional study. Birkie et al75 | 279 (66.4%; 95% CI 61.4 to 70.6) of incarcerated residents met the threshold score for major depressive disorder (PHQ-9 score ≥10). 281 (66.9%; 95% CI 61.9 to 71.9) met the threshold for generalised anxiety disorder (GAD-7 score >10). This contrasts with pre-pandemic studies in the Ethiopian incarcerated population quoted by the authors where depression prevalence rates ranged from 41.9% to 56.4% and anxiety prevalence rate was 36.1% | Low | ↑ |
GAD-7, Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item Questionnaire; PHQ-9, Patient Health Questionnaire 9; RR, Relative Risk; SRH, Self Rated Health.