We created random effects logistic regression models to examine t

We created random effects logistic regression models to examine the association between ex-prisoner status and the proportion of ED visits within ex-prisoner and general population groups for three outcome conditions. We assumed a logistic distribution with a logit-link function. To account for potential correlation among individuals living in the same community, we assumed an exchangeable covariance structure among patients from the same ZIP code. We created three separate models to

investigate the relationship between ex-prisoner status and each of the three outcomes of interest: mental Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical health-related visits, substance use-related visits and ambulatory Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical care sensitive condition-related visits. We adjusted for patient gender, race/ethnicity, age, visit year, visit facility at the individual-level as well as unemployment rate and total population at the level of the ZIP code. We selleck explored interactions between the independent variable, ex-prisoner status, and patient age, gender and race/ethnicity. We found no significant interactions and so did not include these terms in the final models. We report results as odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. We performed

all statistical analyses using SAS version 9.3 and STATA MP version 11. The study was approved by the Miriam Hospital Institutional Review Board and by the Rhode Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Island Department of Corrections Medical Research Advisory Group. Results Description of ex-prisoner cohort Among 6,046 individual ex-prisoners

released during the study period, 1,434 (23.7%) had at least 1 ED visit within the state’s largest hospital system Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical within 1 year of release. This group had a mean age of 34.5 years (SD 10.1), was predominantly male (86.7%) and the majority were white (53.9%). The median length of incarceration prior to first release during the study period was 188 days (IQR 54–288 days) with 263 individuals (18.3%) incarcerated longer than 1 year. Nearly 1 in 4 individuals were re-incarcerated at least Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical once during the study period (N=338/1434; 23.6%). The median time to re-incarceration during the first year after release was Ergoloid 122 days (IQR 56–203 days) and these individuals spent an average of 158 days (SD 97) in the community during this year. Description of ex-prisoner visits The ex-prisoner cohort accounted for a total of 5,145 ED visits within 1 year of release from prison, an average of 3.6 visits per person. Within this group, 455 individuals (31.7%) had 3 or more ED visits and 102 (7.1%) had 10 or more ED visits. A single individual in the ex-prisoner cohort accounted for 114 ED visits in the year following release. The first visit following release from prison occurred within the first 2 weeks for 219 individuals (15.3%), within the first month for 354 individuals (24.

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