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A systematic review of the effect of dietary and nutritional interventions on the behaviours and mental health of prisoners.

The British journal of nutrition
January 1, 1970
Matthew Poulter et al. (5 authors)
Systematic ReviewJournal ArticleReviewHuman Study
Study Details

Study Goal

The researchers aimed to assess the impact of nutrition-based interventions, including oily fish consumption, on mental health and behavioral outcomes in prisoners.

Results Summary

One diet change study involving oily fish found a significant improvement in anxiety among prisoners. Other nutrition-based interventions showed mixed results, with limited evidence for mental health improvements.

Population

Current prisoners with no restrictions on time, location, age, sex, or ethnicity.

Effective Dosage

Not specified

Duration

Not specified

Interactions

None mentioned

Extracted Claims (5)
InterventionDirectionEndpointPopulationDosageImpactClaim #
nutritional supplements
decrease
rule violations
prisoners
-
demonstrated significant improvements
#1
nutritional supplements
no change
mental health
prisoners
-
did not reach significance
#2
diet changes
increase
cognitive function
prisoners
-
reaching significance
#3
consuming oily fish
decrease
anxiety
prisoners
-
found a significant improvement
#4
diet education
no change
overall mental resilience
prisoners
-
did not find a significant improvement
#5
Abstract

Prisoners experience a higher burden of poor health, aggressive behaviours and worsening mental health than the general population. This systematic review aimed to identify research that used nutrition-based interventions in prisons, focusing on outcomes of mental health and behaviours. The systematic review was registered with Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews on 26 January 2022: CRD42022293370. Inclusion criteria comprised of current prisoners with no limit on time, location, age, sex or ethnicity. Only quantitative research in the English language was included. PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsycINFO and CINAHL were searched, retrieving 933 results, with 11 included for qualitative synthesis. Studies were checked for quality using the revised tool to assess risk of bias in randomised trials or risk of bias in non-randomised studies of interventions tool. Of the included studies, seven used nutritional supplements, three included diet changes, and one used education. Of the seven supplement-based studies, six included rule violations as an outcome, and only three demonstrated significant improvements. One study included mental health as an outcome; however, results did not reach significance. Of the three diet change studies, two investigated cognitive function as an outcome, with both reaching significance. Anxiety was included in one diet change study, which found a significant improvement through consuming oily fish. One study using diet education did not find a significant improvement in overall mental resilience. Overall, results are mixed, with the included studies presenting several limitations and heterogeneity. Future research should aim to consider increased homogeneity in research design, allowing for a higher quality of evidence to assess the role nutrition can play in improving the health of prisoners.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
HumansPrisonersMental HealthDietDietary SupplementsMaleFemaleAdult
Study Links
Quality Scores
SafetyNot Assessed
Efficacy85/10
Quality75/10
Citation Metrics
Total Citations4
Citations/Year4.0
Research Impact Scores
APT Score0.50
Weight Score1.49
Normalized Score0.69
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