Theme: Epidemiology & Public Health Research Year: 2024
Background: People living in prisons have higher all-cause mortality than the general population. In addition, people who use drugs are vastly overrepresented in prison populations. In this study, we aim to determine the main causes of deaths in a prison hospital in Greece.
Methods: Korydallos prison, the largest in Greece, includes the only general hospital for inmates in Greece. With permission from the Greek Ministry of Justice and the director of Korydallos’ Hospital, we examined forensic reports of all prisoners who died there between 2010 and 2018. Data on cause of death, ethnicity, age, and type of offence leading to imprisonment (drug related or not) were obtained from their files. Causes of death were categorised as either violent (drug overdose, hanging and homicide) or natural (cardiovascular disease, cancer, other).
Results: A total of 236 deaths were recorded, with 45 (19.1%) attributed to violent causes and 191 (80.9%) to natural causes. The mean age of death was 39.1 and 55.7 years, respectively. The majority of deaths due to natural causes were attributed to cardiovascular disease (40.8%), followed by cancer (23.0%) and infections (22.5%). Violent deaths included suicide by strangulation (53.3%), drug overdose (33.3%) and homicide (13.3%). Overall, drug overdose accounted for 6.4% of all deaths. Out of 236 deaths, 63 (26.7%) were recorded among people incarcerated for drug-related offences; violent and natural causes accounted for 23.8% and 76.2% of deaths, respectively, within this subgroup.
Conclusions: Drug overdose accounted for one third of all violent deaths recorded among people incarcerated in a Greek prison from 2010 to 2018. The introduction of naloxone in the prison setting as well as education of staff and incarcerated individuals on overdose and naloxone use is needed to prevent these deaths.
Download abstract Download poster