Background The health aspects, disease frequencies, and specific health interests of prisoners and refugees are poorly understood. Importantly, access to the health care system is limited for this vulnerable population. There has been no systematic investigation to understand the health issues of inmates in Switzerland. Furthermore, little is known on how recent migration flows in Europe may have affected the health conditions of inmates. Objective The Swiss Prison Study (SWIPS) is a large-scale observational study with the aim of establishing a public health registry in northern-central Switzerland. The primary objective is to establish a central database to assess disease prevalence (ie, International Classification of Diseases-10 codes [German modification]) among prisoners. The secondary objectives include the following: (1) to compare the 2015 versus 2020 disease prevalence among inmates against a representative sample from the local resident population, (2) to assess longitudinal changes in disease prevalence from 2015 to 2020 by using cross-sectional medical records from all inmates at the Police Prison Zurich, Switzerland, and (3) to identify unrecognized health problems to prepare successful public health strategies. Methods Demographic and health-related data such as age, sex, country of origin, duration of imprisonment, medication (including the drug name, brand, dosage, and release), and medical history (including the International Classification of Diseases-10 codes [German modification] for all diagnoses and external results that are part of the medical history in the prison) have been deposited in a central register over a span of 5 years (January 2015 to August 2020). The final cohort is expected to comprise approximately 50,000 to 60,000 prisoners from the Police Prison Zurich, Switzerland. Results This study was approved on August 5, 2019 by the ethical committee of the Canton of Zurich with the registration code KEK-ZH No. 2019-01055 and funded in August 2020 by the “Walter and Gertrud Siegenthaler” foundation and the “Theodor and Ida Herzog-Egli” foundation. This study is registered with the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number registry. Data collection started in August 2019 and results are expected to be published in 2021. Findings will be disseminated through scientific papers as well as presentations and public events. Conclusions This study will construct a valuable database of information regarding the health of inmates and refugees in Swiss prisons and will act as groundwork for future interventions in this vulnerable population. Trial Registration ISRCTN registry ISRCTN11714665; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN11714665 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/23973
BACKGROUND Health aspects, disease frequencies, and specific health interests of prisoners and refugees are poorly understood. Importantly, access to the healthcare system is limited for this vulnerable population. OBJECTIVE Currently, there has been no systematic investigation to understand the health issues of inmates in Switzerland. Furthermore, little is known on how recent migration flows in Europe may have impacted the health conditions of inmates in recent years. We therefore planned a large-scale observational study to establish a public health registry in northern-central Switzerland. METHODS Demographic and health-related data, such as age, sex, country of origin, duration of imprisonment, medication (including the drug name, brand, dosage, and release), medical history (including the ICD codes for all diagnoses and external results that are part of the medical history in the prison) will be deposited in a central register over a span of five years (April 2015 to April 2020). The final cohort is expected to comprise approximately 50,000 to 60,000 prisoners from the Police Prison Zurich (PPZ), Switzerland. The primary objective is to establish a central database to assess disease prevalence (i.e., ICD codes) among prisoners. The secondary objectives include the following: (1) to compare the 2015 to 2020 disease prevalence among inmates against a representative sample from the local resident population; (2) to assess longitudinal changes in disease prevalence from 2015 to 2020 using cross-sectional medical records from all inmates at the PPZ; and (3) to identify unrecognized health problems to prepare successful public health strategies. RESULTS The study will be conducted with the highest respect for individual participants according to the Declaration of Helsinki, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Swiss Federal Act on Research involving Human Beings (HRA), and according to this study protocol. This study will construct a valuable database of health-related information regarding inmates and refugees and will act as a groundwork for future interventions in this population. Findings will be disseminated through scientific articles as well as presentations and public events. CONCLUSIONS None CLINICALTRIAL ISRCTN registry (www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN11714665)
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