Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jun;62(6):949-952.
doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2021.12.011. Epub 2022 Jan 31.

Life Expectancy and COVID-19 in Florida State Prisons

Neal M Marquez  1 , Aaron M Littman  2 , Victoria E Rossi  3 , Michael C Everett  3 , Erika Tyagi  3 , Hope C Johnson  3 , Sharon L Dolovich  2
Affiliations

Life Expectancy and COVID-19 in Florida State Prisons

Neal M Marquez et al. Am J Prev Med. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Introduction: The heightened risk of COVID-19 infection and mortality in prisons is well documented, but COVID-19's impact on all-cause mortality in incarcerated populations has not yet been studied. This study analyzed mortality records from the Florida State Department of Corrections prison system population to evaluate the impact COVID-19 had on all-cause mortality and compare mortality rates and life expectancy with that of the overall state of Florida population.

Methods: Population age and sex data for Florida State Department of Corrections were ascertained from the Florida State Department of Corrections Offender Based Information System. Death data by age, sex, and cause of death were acquired from medical records and Florida State Department of Corrections offender reports. The state of Florida demographic and death data were collected from the Census Bureau, Florida Department of Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Age- and sex-standardized life table measures were calculated, and COVID-19 contributions to changes in life expectancy were assessed using Arriaga's decomposition.

Results: The standardized mortality rate in the Florida State Department of Corrections population increased by 45% between 2019 and 2020, causing an overall 4.0-year decline in life expectancy. Over the same period, the state of Florida population's standardized mortality increased by 19%, resulting in an overall 2.7-year decline. Within the Florida State Department of Corrections population, life expectancy decline could be attributed exclusively to COVID-19 mortality.

Conclusions: The state of Florida prison population saw a substantial increase in mortality driven solely by COVID-19 mortality, leading to an overall 4-year decline in life expectancy. Given the findings and continued threat of COVID-19 outbreaks, Florida State Department of Corrections and other prison systems should strive to increase vaccination uptake, decrease prison populations, and commit to COVID-19 data transparency.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Life-expectancy decomposition. Note: This figure shows the contribution, by age and cause of death, to the total change in life expectancy between 2019 and 2020. The overall decline was 4.0 years for the FLDOC population and 2.7 years for the Florida state population. COVID-19’s contribution was a loss of 4.2 years for FLDOC population and a loss of 1.5 years for the Florida state population. Reductions in mortality from other causes added 0.2 years to life expectancy among the FLDOC population, whereas increases in other causes contributed 1.2 years of life expectancy decline for the Florida state population. FLDOC, Florida Department of Corrections.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Marquez N, Ward JA, Parish K, Saloner B, Dolovich S. COVID-19 incidence and mortality in federal and state prisons compared with the U.S. population, April 5, 2020, to April 3, 2021. JAMA. 2021;326(18):1865–1867. doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.17575. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barsky BA, Reinhart E, Farmer P, Keshavjee S. Vaccination plus decarceration — stopping COVID-19 in jails and prisons. N Engl J Med. 2021;384(17):1583–1585. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2100609. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kang-Brown J, Montagnet C, Heiss J. Vera Institute of Justice; Brooklyn, NY: Published June 2021. People in jail and prison in spring 2021.https://www.vera.org/publications/people-in-jail-and-prison-in-spring-2021
    1. Public Records Requests for the OBIS Database. Florida Department of Corrections. http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/obis_request.html. Updated April 22, 2021. Accessed June 29, 2021.
    1. American community survey data. U.S. Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/data.html. Updated November 23, 2021. Accessed January 5, 2022.

Publication types