Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Disease frequencies and specific health issues of prisoners and refugees are poorly understood. Many individuals lack the opportunities to discuss their health issues and access to the healthcare system is limited. Physicians working at prisons and detention centres often speak of a "blind spot in society", as it is thought that certain chronic and psychiatric diseases are seen more frequently than the general population.
Currently, there has been no systematic investigation into the health issues of these inmates. Furthermore, little is known on how recent migration flows in Europe may have impacted the health conditions of inmates in recent years.
The aim of this study is to establish an international health registry with detailed data on the health and well-being of the incarcerated population.
Who can participate?
Inmates from the police prison in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
What does the study involve?
The study will gather anonymised health-related data from prisoners during their stay in prison.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no individual benefits or risks involved in this study. All extracted data is anonymised and therefore cannot be traced back to an individual. On a larger scale, the study will contribute to the understanding of public health problems among prisoners in general.
Where is the study run from?
Police Prison Zurich (Switzerland)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
From January 2015 to December 2020
Who is funding the study?
This is an investigator-initiated trial.
The study is funded by the Waltraud und Gertraud Siegenthaler Foundation and Ida Herzog-Egli Foundation (Switzerland)
Who is the main contact?
Dr. Thomas Gaisl
Thomas.Gaisl@usz.ch
Trial website
Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Dr Thomas Gaisl
ORCID ID
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9017-6143
Contact details
Rämistrasse 100
Zurich
8091
Switzerland
+41 44 255 11 11
Thomas.Gaisl@usz.ch
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
Nil known
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Nil known
Protocol/serial number
v1.0
Study information
Scientific title
The Swiss Prison Study (SWIPS) in north-central Switzerland: a public health registry
Acronym
SWIPS
Study hypothesis
1. The disease profile of inmates substantially differs from that of the general population. Specifically, certain chronic and psychiatric diseases are disproportionately prevalent among inmates and refugees.
2. A large number of drugs (e.g. psychotropic substances) may be used “off label” and the origin of the inmates and the refugee route respectively may have an impact on the disease profile of the affected.
3. Recent geopolitical changes significantly affected the overall disease profile of inmates in the prisons.
Ethics approval
Approved 05/08/2019, the Cantonal Ethics Committee Zurich (Stampfenbachstr. 121 Postfach, 8090 Zurich, Switzerland; +41 43 259 79 70; admin.kek@kek.zh.ch), ref: 2019-01055
Study design
Observational study - Health registry
Primary study design
Observational
Secondary study design
Epidemiological study
Trial setting
Community
Trial type
Diagnostic
Patient information sheet
No participant information sheet available
Condition
Health data of inmates (police prison) from the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
Intervention
This is a cross-sectional observation among approx. 50’000 to 60’000 prisoners in Switzerland. Health-related data such as age, sex, country of origin, duration of imprisonment, medication (incl. drug name, brand, dosage, release), medical history (incl. ICD-codes of all diagnosis and external results which are part of the medical history in prison) will be deposited in a central register over five years (2015-2020). Corresponding health data (incl. as age, sex, medication, medical history) will be gathered from a representative local resident population for comparison. The local resident population will be matched for age and sex. This data will be provided by the insurance companies and will be de-identified.
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
Prevalence of diseases according to ICD-codes among prisoners using cross-sectional data from medical records of all prisoners from 2015 to 2020
Secondary outcome measures
1. Compare the disease prevalence (ICD-codes) of the inmates against a representative sample from the local resident population, using cross-sectional medical records from all inmates at the police prison Zurich from 2015 to 2020.
2. Longitudinal changes in the disease prevalence (ICD-codes) from 2015 to 2020 using cross-sectional medical records from all inmates at the police prison Zurich.
Overall trial start date
01/01/2015
Overall trial end date
31/12/2020
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
Inmates from the police prison in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland
Participant type
Other
Age group
All
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
50,000 - 60,000 inmates
Participant exclusion criteria
Unwillingness to participate
Recruitment start date
01/04/2015
Recruitment end date
01/12/2020
Locations
Countries of recruitment
Switzerland
Trial participating centre
Police Prison Zurich
Kasernenstrasse 29
Zurich
8021
Switzerland
Sponsor information
Organisation
University Hospital of Zurich
Sponsor details
Rämistrasse 100
Zurich
8091
Switzerland
+41 44 255 11 11
thomas.gaisl@usz.ch
Sponsor type
Hospital/treatment centre
Website
Funders
Funder type
Other
Funder name
Waltraud und Gertraud Siegenthaler Stiftung
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Funder name
Ida Herzog-Egli Stiftung
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Data is planned to be published in peer-reviewed journals from 2020.
IPD sharing statement:
The anonymised datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study will be available upon request from Dr. Thomas Gaisl, thomas.gaisl@usz.ch. No consent from participants was obtained.
Intention to publish date
01/01/2021
Participant level data
Available on request
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list