Methods and Observations from Routinely Collected Electronic Health Record Data in a Nationwide Jail Population: Introducing the Registry of Electronic Archives in Correctional Healthcare (REACH) Database.

IF 3 Q1 CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY

Health and Justice Pub Date : 2025-06-16 DOI:10.1186/s40352-025-00345-5

Amber Simpler, Adam Natoli, Yash Patade, William Jett

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Recognizing the disparate health status of correctional populations compared to the general population, national agencies have called for research to better understand disease epidemiology and healthcare needs of individuals in jails. This paper introduces the Registry of Electronic Archives in Correctional Healthcare (REACH) database - a largescale, multivariable living database derived from electronic healthcare records (EHR) of individuals discharged from jails across the nation beginning in 2013. We describe methods used to secure data, detail current database contents, and offer an initial presentation of sample demography. To demonstrate REACH's utility, an investigation of factors contributing to length of stay (LOS), including demography, health status, and jail characteristics, was conducted.

Results: The current REACH sample (N = 1,251,837) is primarily comprised of males (72.0%) identified racially as White (55.3%) in their mid-30's. While detained, approximately 20% and 17% of individuals were prescribed treatment for chronic medical and/or mental health conditions, respectively. Multilevel modeling was used to examine if sex, race, health condition, and/or jail location or size predicted LOS.

Conclusions: By accessing EHR data, we can expand our understanding of assessment and treatment of specific healthcare conditions in jail populations and address complicated questions about health status of detainees. Data analysis using the REACH database suggests LOS is influenced slightly by jail characteristics and more substantively by detainee demography and medical/mental health conditions. We propose the REACH database's potential for answering important questions about health status and healthcare services for jail populations, including questions about epidemiology and correctional healthcare.

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从全国监狱人口中常规收集的电子健康记录数据的方法和观察：介绍矫正医疗（REACH）数据库中的电子档案注册。

背景：认识到与一般人群相比，惩教人员的健康状况存在差异，国家机构呼吁进行研究，以更好地了解监狱中个人的疾病流行病学和保健需求。本文介绍了惩教医疗电子档案登记处（REACH）数据库，这是一个大型的、多变量的生活数据库，源自2013年以来全国各地监狱释放人员的电子医疗记录（EHR）。我们描述了用于保护数据的方法，详细介绍了当前数据库内容，并提供了样本人口统计的初步介绍。为了证明REACH的效用，对影响停留时间（LOS）的因素进行了调查，包括人口统计、健康状况和监狱特征。结果：目前的REACH样本（N = 1,251,837）主要由30岁左右的白人男性（72.0%）组成（55.3%）。在被拘留期间，分别约有20%和17%的人因慢性医疗和/或精神健康问题接受了处方治疗。使用多层模型来检查性别、种族、健康状况和/或监狱位置或大小是否预测LOS。结论：通过访问电子病历数据，我们可以扩大对监狱人群特定健康状况的评估和治疗的理解，并解决有关被拘留者健康状况的复杂问题。使用REACH数据库进行的数据分析表明，监狱特征对LOS的影响较小，而对被拘留者人口和医疗/精神健康状况的影响更大。我们提出了REACH数据库在回答有关监狱人口健康状况和医疗保健服务的重要问题方面的潜力，包括有关流行病学和惩教保健的问题。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Health and Justice Social Sciences-Law

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

8.60%

发文量

审稿时长

13 weeks

期刊介绍： Health & Justice is open to submissions from public health, criminology and criminal justice, medical science, psychology and clinical sciences, sociology, neuroscience, biology, anthropology and the social sciences, and covers a broad array of research types. It publishes original research, research notes (promising issues that are smaller in scope), commentaries, and translational notes (possible ways of introducing innovations in the justice system). Health & Justice aims to: Present original experimental research on the area of health and well-being of people involved in the adult or juvenile justice system, including people who work in the system; Present meta-analysis or systematic reviews in the area of health and justice for those involved in the justice system; Provide an arena to present new and upcoming scientific issues; Present translational science—the movement of scientific findings into practice including programs, procedures, or strategies; Present implementation science findings to advance the uptake and use of evidence-based practices; and, Present protocols and clinical practice guidelines. As an open access journal, Health & Justice aims for a broad reach, including researchers across many disciplines as well as justice practitioners (e.g. judges, prosecutors, defenders, probation officers, treatment providers, mental health and medical personnel working with justice-involved individuals, etc.). The sections of the journal devoted to translational and implementation sciences are primarily geared to practitioners and justice actors with special attention to the techniques used.