Drug use and re-imprisonment: A prospective study of the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohort
Background: Re-imprisonments are common among people in prison who use drugs. This study aims to describe sociodemographic factors, mental health and level of pre-prison substance use in a cohort of people in prison, and to investigate re-imprisonment during follow-up according to their level of pre...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772724622001020 |
| _version_ | 1811292123962540032 |
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| author | Nicoline Toresen Lokdam Marianne Riksheim Stavseth Anne Bukten |
| author_facet | Nicoline Toresen Lokdam Marianne Riksheim Stavseth Anne Bukten |
| author_sort | Nicoline Toresen Lokdam |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Re-imprisonments are common among people in prison who use drugs. This study aims to describe sociodemographic factors, mental health and level of pre-prison substance use in a cohort of people in prison, and to investigate re-imprisonment during follow-up according to their level of pre-prison drug use. Methods: This was a prospective study using baseline data from the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohort (n = 733) recruited in 2013–2014 linked to data from the Norwegian Prison Registry and the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry. Self-reported drug use before imprisonment was measured at baseline using the Drug Use Disorder Identification Test (DUDIT). The outcome of interest was re-imprisonment examined using Cox regression. We excluded 32 persons because they were not released before the study ended. The study sample included 701 persons, with a total time-at-risk of 2479 person-years. Results: Almost half of the study sample reported high-risk drug use before imprisonment (DUDIT score >24). During the study period, 43% (n = 267) were re-imprisoned. People with high-risk use had a hazard ratio (HR) of 4.20 (95% CI: 2.95–5.97) of re-imprisonment compared with people with low-risk use (DUDIT score <6). Older age and more education than primary school were associated with a reduced risk of re-imprisonment. Conclusion: Compared with low-risk use, high-risk drug use is highly prevalent among people in prison and is associated with higher rates of re-imprisonment. This highlights the need for screening and treatment of drug use disorders among people in prisons. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:40:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6fbde37c615f4528b7965348b4e22e8b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2772-7246 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:40:32Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-6fbde37c615f4528b7965348b4e22e8b2022-12-22T03:02:00ZengElsevierDrug and Alcohol Dependence Reports2772-72462022-12-015100127Drug use and re-imprisonment: A prospective study of the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohortNicoline Toresen Lokdam0Marianne Riksheim Stavseth1Anne Bukten2Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Oslo University Hospital, Norway; Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Kirkeveien 166, Oslo 0407, Norway; Corresponding author.Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Oslo University Hospital, Norway; Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Kirkeveien 166, Oslo 0407, NorwayNorwegian Centre for Addiction Research, University of Oslo, Kirkeveien 166, Oslo 0407, Norway; Section for Clinical Addiction Research, Oslo University Hospital, NorwayBackground: Re-imprisonments are common among people in prison who use drugs. This study aims to describe sociodemographic factors, mental health and level of pre-prison substance use in a cohort of people in prison, and to investigate re-imprisonment during follow-up according to their level of pre-prison drug use. Methods: This was a prospective study using baseline data from the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohort (n = 733) recruited in 2013–2014 linked to data from the Norwegian Prison Registry and the Norwegian Cause of Death Registry. Self-reported drug use before imprisonment was measured at baseline using the Drug Use Disorder Identification Test (DUDIT). The outcome of interest was re-imprisonment examined using Cox regression. We excluded 32 persons because they were not released before the study ended. The study sample included 701 persons, with a total time-at-risk of 2479 person-years. Results: Almost half of the study sample reported high-risk drug use before imprisonment (DUDIT score >24). During the study period, 43% (n = 267) were re-imprisoned. People with high-risk use had a hazard ratio (HR) of 4.20 (95% CI: 2.95–5.97) of re-imprisonment compared with people with low-risk use (DUDIT score <6). Older age and more education than primary school were associated with a reduced risk of re-imprisonment. Conclusion: Compared with low-risk use, high-risk drug use is highly prevalent among people in prison and is associated with higher rates of re-imprisonment. This highlights the need for screening and treatment of drug use disorders among people in prisons.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772724622001020Drug usePrisonRe-imprisonmentNorMA cohortDUDIT |
| spellingShingle | Nicoline Toresen Lokdam Marianne Riksheim Stavseth Anne Bukten Drug use and re-imprisonment: A prospective study of the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohort Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports Drug use Prison Re-imprisonment NorMA cohort DUDIT |
| title | Drug use and re-imprisonment: A prospective study of the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohort |
| title_full | Drug use and re-imprisonment: A prospective study of the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohort |
| title_fullStr | Drug use and re-imprisonment: A prospective study of the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohort |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drug use and re-imprisonment: A prospective study of the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohort |
| title_short | Drug use and re-imprisonment: A prospective study of the Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) cohort |
| title_sort | drug use and re imprisonment a prospective study of the norwegian offender mental health and addiction norma cohort |
| topic | Drug use Prison Re-imprisonment NorMA cohort DUDIT |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772724622001020 |
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