Kinner Stuart A, Forsyth Simon J
Griffith Criminology Institute & Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
PLoS One. 2016 Jun 16;11(6):e0157328. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157328. eCollection 2016.
People released from prison are at increased risk of death. However, no country has established a system for routine monitoring of mortality in this population. The aims of this study were to (a) evaluate a system for routine monitoring of deaths after release from prison in Australia and (b) estimate the number of deaths annually within 28 and 365 days of prison release from 2000 to 2013.
Persons released from prison and deaths were identified in records held by Centrelink, Australia's national provider of unemployment benefits. Estimates generated in this manner were compared with those from a study that probabilistically linked correctional records with the National Death Index (NDI), for each calendar year 2000 to 2007. Using Centrelink data, national estimates of mortality within 28 and 365 days of release were produced for each calendar year 2000 to 2013.
Compared with estimates based on linkage with the NDI, the estimated crude mortality rate based on Centrelink records was on average 52% lower for deaths within 28 days of release and 24% lower for deaths within 365 days of release. Nationally, over the period 2000 to 2013, we identified an average of 32 deaths per year within 28 days of release and 188 deaths per year within 365 days of release. The crude mortality rate for deaths within both 28 and 365 days of release increased over this time.
Using routinely collected unemployment benefits data we detected the majority of deaths in people recently released from prison in Australia. These data may be sufficient for routine monitoring purposes and it may be possible to adopt a similar approach in other countries. Routine surveillance of mortality in ex-prisoners serves to highlight their extreme vulnerability and provides a basis for evaluating policy reforms designed to reduce preventable deaths.
刑满释放人员的死亡风险有所增加。然而，尚无国家建立针对这一人群死亡率的常规监测系统。本研究的目的是：（a）评估澳大利亚刑满释放后死亡情况的常规监测系统；（b）估算2000年至2013年期间刑满释放后28天及365天内的年死亡人数。
从澳大利亚国家失业救济金发放机构——福利部保存的记录中识别刑满释放人员及死亡人员。将以这种方式得出的估算结果与2000年至2007年各日历年中一项将惩教记录与国家死亡索引（NDI）进行概率关联的研究所得到的估算结果进行比较。利用福利部的数据，得出2000年至2013年各日历年释放后28天及365天内的全国死亡率估算值。
与基于与国家死亡索引关联得出的估算值相比，基于福利部记录得出的估计粗死亡率在释放后28天内的死亡中平均低52%，在释放后365天内的死亡中平均低24%。在全国范围内，2000年至2013年期间，我们发现释放后28天内平均每年有32人死亡，释放后365天内平均每年有188人死亡。在此期间，释放后28天及365天内死亡的粗死亡率均有所上升。
利用常规收集的失业救济金数据，我们发现了澳大利亚近期刑满释放人员中的大多数死亡情况。这些数据可能足以用于常规监测目的，其他国家或许也可以采用类似方法。对刑满释放人员死亡率的常规监测有助于凸显他们极高的脆弱性，并为评估旨在减少可预防死亡的政策改革提供依据。
