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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-NDNature communications

Mortality and healthcare services in Pennsylvania state prisons following extreme ambient temperatures.

  • Jaquelyn L Jahn1
  • Claudia N Anderson2
  • Jessica T Simes3
  • Leah H Schinasi4
  • Michael Leung5
  • Josiah L Kephart4
  • Bruce Western6
6 affiliations
  1. 1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements, and Population Health Equity, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA. [email protected].
  2. 2College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
  3. 3Department of Sociology, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
  4. 4Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and the Urban Health Collaborative, Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
  5. 5Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
  6. 6Russell Sage Foundation and Department of Sociology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
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Abstract

Extreme temperatures pose severe risks for population health and healthcare systems. However, little research has examined implications for incarcerated populations, who may be particularly vulnerable given their limited control over their thermal environments. Here, we show that among people imprisoned in Pennsylvania (2000-2023), both warmer and cooler temperatures were significantly associated with higher rates of mortality, transfers to outside medical facilities and prison infirmary admissions, relative to outcome-specific reference minimum threshold temperatures. As temperature extremes become more frequent and severe, policy action including decarceration and the provision of accessible prison healthcare is urgently needed to protect the health of incarcerated populations.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{jahn2026mortality,
  title = {{Mortality and healthcare services in Pennsylvania state prisons following extreme ambient temperatures.}},
  author = {Jaquelyn L Jahn and Claudia N Anderson and Jessica T Simes and Leah H Schinasi and Michael Leung and Josiah L Kephart and Bruce Western},
  journal = {Nature communications},
  year = {2026},
  month = sep,
  doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78012-y},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907435},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Mortality and healthcare services in Pennsylvania state prisons following extreme ambient temperatures.
AU  - Jaquelyn L Jahn
AU  - Claudia N Anderson
AU  - Jessica T Simes
AU  - Leah H Schinasi
AU  - Michael Leung
AU  - Josiah L Kephart
AU  - Bruce Western
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/22
JO  - Nature communications
DO  - 10.1038/s41467-026-78012-y
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42907435
AB  - Extreme temperatures pose severe risks for population health and healthcare systems. However, little research has examined implications for incarcerated populations, who may be particularly vulnerable given their limited control over their thermal environments. Here, we show that among people imprisoned in Pennsylvania (2000-2023), both warmer and cooler temperatures were significantly associated with higher rates of mortality, transfers to outside medical facilities and prison infirmary admissions, relative to outcome-specific reference minimum threshold temperatures. As temperature extremes become more frequent and severe, policy action including decarceration and the provision of accessible prison healthcare is urgently needed to protect the health of incarcerated populations.
SN  - 2041-1723
ER  -