title: The Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction Study - Design and Implementation of a National Survey and Prospective Cohort Study.
abstract: The Norwegian prison inmates are burdened by problems before they enter prison. Few studies have managed to assess this burden and relate it to what occurs for the inmates once they leave the prison. The Norwegian Offender Mental Health and Addiction (NorMA) study is a large-scale longitudinal cohort study that combines national survey and registry data in order to understand mental health, substance use, and criminal activity before, during, and after custody among prisoners in Norway. The main goal of the study is to describe the criminal and health-related trajectories based on both survey and registry linkage information. Data were collected from 1,499 inmates in Norwegian prison facilities during 2013-2014. Of these, 741 inmates provided a valid personal identification number and constitute a cohort that will be examined retrospectively and prospectively, along with data from nationwide Norwegian registries. This study describes the design, procedures, and implementation of the ongoing NorMA study and provides an outline of the initial data.
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. ; Oslo University Hospital, Division for Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo, Norway. ; The Correctional Service of Norway, Staff Academy, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bukten
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ingunn Olea
authors.initials: IO
authors.lastname: Lund
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. ; Oslo University Hospital, Division for Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo, Norway. ; Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Concurrent Substance Abuse and Mental Health Disorders, Hamar, Norway.
authors.forename: Eline Borger
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Rognli
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Marianne Riksheim
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Stavseth
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. ; Oslo University Hospital, Division for Mental Health and Addiction, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lobmaier
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. ; Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Department of Pharmacoepidemiology, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Skurtveit
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. ; Alcohol Research Group, Emeryville, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Clausen
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Nikolaj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kunøe
keywords: crime; longitudinal study; mental health; prison context; substance abuse