Association of vision impairment and hearing impairment with encounters in the criminal justice system among children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Mapa Prabhath Piyasena; Kelly Malcolm; Sean Coghlan; Rolvix Patterson; Gianni Virgili; Ving Fai Chan; Peter D. Donnelly; Neil Kennedy; Susan D. Emmett; Thomas Hampton; Eric Umar; Julie Anne Little; Seena Fazel; Nathan Congdon

doi:10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103590

Association of vision impairment and hearing impairment with encounters in the criminal justice system among children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Mapa Prabhath Piyasena
, Kelly Malcolm
, Sean Coghlan
, Rolvix Patterson
, Gianni Virgili
, Ving Fai Chan
, Peter D. Donnelly
, Neil Kennedy
, Susan D. Emmett
, Thomas Hampton
, Eric Umar
, Julie Anne Little
, Seena Fazel
, Nathan Congdon

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Background: More than 250,000 children <18 years were incarcerated globally in 2020, and 1.5 million cycle through custody annually. We reviewed studies reporting associations of vision/hearing impairment with the criminal justice encounters among young people aged 10–24 years.

Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane, legal and social science data bases to identify studies that describe vision impairment/eye disease and hearing impairment/ear disease among incarcerated youth from inception to 1 June 2025. We included studies of any design assessing criminal justice system contacts among young people with such impairments. Study selection, data extraction and evaluation of bias and quality were done by two reviewers. We performed narrative summaries of prevalence due to high heterogeneity and provided a meta-analysis for odds of vision/hearing impairment among incarcerated youth compared to controls. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42022319876.

Findings: We identified 94 eligible full-texts for screening among 10070 assessed. Twenty-three studies (median year of publication 1989) including 34,993 participants (mean age 15.8 years, range 10.2–20.9) were included in analyses. The reported prevalence of vision impairment among incarcerated youth ranged from 1.35% to 66.0% (16 studies), hearing impairment from 1.36% to 50.4% (11 studies). In meta-analysis of four studies providing control samples, odds of hearing impairment were increased among incarcerated youth compared to controls (Odds Ratio [OR] 4.20, 95% CI 1.79–9.86; p < 0.001, I²= 48.4%). Six studies on vision impairment reported a pooled OR of 1.60 (95% CI 0.95–2·70; p = 0.08, I²= 69.9%); leave-one-out meta-analysis found removal of a single outlying study left a highly significant OR (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.65–2.19; p < 0.001).

Interpretation: The prevalence of vision and hearing impairment are higher among incarcerated youth than the general population, although highly variable. These results highlight the need for screening and treatment of vision and hearing conditions at reception into prisons and follow up on release.

Original language	English
Journal	eClinicalMedicine
Volume	89
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103590
Publication status	Published - 23 Oct 2025

Keywords

Adolescent
Hearing impairment
Incarceration
Recidivism
Vision impairment
Youth

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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1-s2.0-S2589537025005231-mainFinal published version, 1.65 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

Piyasena, M. P., Malcolm, K., Coghlan, S., Patterson, R., Virgili, G., Chan, V. F., Donnelly, P. D., Kennedy, N., Emmett, S. D., Hampton, T., Umar, E., Little, J. A., Fazel, S., & Congdon, N. (2025). Association of vision impairment and hearing impairment with encounters in the criminal justice system among children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis. eClinicalMedicine, 89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103590

@article{5166da3a63244d7c9746468c71d88a03,

title = "Association of vision impairment and hearing impairment with encounters in the criminal justice system among children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.",

abstract = "Background: More than 250,000 children <18 years were incarcerated globally in 2020, and 1.5 million cycle through custody annually. We reviewed studies reporting associations of vision/hearing impairment with the criminal justice encounters among young people aged 10–24 years. Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane, legal and social science data bases to identify studies that describe vision impairment/eye disease and hearing impairment/ear disease among incarcerated youth from inception to 1 June 2025. We included studies of any design assessing criminal justice system contacts among young people with such impairments. Study selection, data extraction and evaluation of bias and quality were done by two reviewers. We performed narrative summaries of prevalence due to high heterogeneity and provided a meta-analysis for odds of vision/hearing impairment among incarcerated youth compared to controls. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42022319876. Findings: We identified 94 eligible full-texts for screening among 10070 assessed. Twenty-three studies (median year of publication 1989) including 34,993 participants (mean age 15.8 years, range 10.2–20.9) were included in analyses. The reported prevalence of vision impairment among incarcerated youth ranged from 1.35\% to 66.0\% (16 studies), hearing impairment from 1.36\% to 50.4\% (11 studies). In meta-analysis of four studies providing control samples, odds of hearing impairment were increased among incarcerated youth compared to controls (Odds Ratio [OR] 4.20, 95\% CI 1.79–9.86; p < 0.001, I2= 48.4\%). Six studies on vision impairment reported a pooled OR of 1.60 (95\% CI 0.95–2·70; p = 0.08, I2= 69.9\%); leave-one-out meta-analysis found removal of a single outlying study left a highly significant OR (OR 1.90, 95\% CI 1.65–2.19; p < 0.001). Interpretation: The prevalence of vision and hearing impairment are higher among incarcerated youth than the general population, although highly variable. These results highlight the need for screening and treatment of vision and hearing conditions at reception into prisons and follow up on release. ",

keywords = "Adolescent, Hearing impairment, Incarceration, Recidivism, Vision impairment, Youth",

author = "Piyasena, \{Mapa Prabhath\} and Kelly Malcolm and Sean Coghlan and Rolvix Patterson and Gianni Virgili and Chan, \{Ving Fai\} and Donnelly, \{Peter D.\} and Neil Kennedy and Emmett, \{Susan D.\} and Thomas Hampton and Eric Umar and Little, \{Julie Anne\} and Seena Fazel and Nathan Congdon",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",

year = "2025",

month = oct,

day = "23",

doi = "10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103590",

language = "English",

volume = "89",

journal = "eClinicalMedicine",

issn = "2589-5370",

publisher = "Elsevier Ltd",

}

Piyasena, MP, Malcolm, K, Coghlan, S, Patterson, R, Virgili, G, Chan, VF, Donnelly, PD, Kennedy, N, Emmett, SD, Hampton, T, Umar, E, Little, JA, Fazel, S & Congdon, N 2025, 'Association of vision impairment and hearing impairment with encounters in the criminal justice system among children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.', eClinicalMedicine, vol. 89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103590

TY - JOUR

T1 - Association of vision impairment and hearing impairment with encounters in the criminal justice system among children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

AU - Piyasena, Mapa Prabhath

AU - Malcolm, Kelly

AU - Coghlan, Sean

AU - Patterson, Rolvix

AU - Virgili, Gianni

AU - Chan, Ving Fai

AU - Donnelly, Peter D.

AU - Kennedy, Neil

AU - Emmett, Susan D.

AU - Hampton, Thomas

AU - Umar, Eric

AU - Little, Julie Anne

AU - Fazel, Seena

AU - Congdon, Nathan

PY - 2025/10/23

Y1 - 2025/10/23

N2 - Background: More than 250,000 children <18 years were incarcerated globally in 2020, and 1.5 million cycle through custody annually. We reviewed studies reporting associations of vision/hearing impairment with the criminal justice encounters among young people aged 10–24 years. Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane, legal and social science data bases to identify studies that describe vision impairment/eye disease and hearing impairment/ear disease among incarcerated youth from inception to 1 June 2025. We included studies of any design assessing criminal justice system contacts among young people with such impairments. Study selection, data extraction and evaluation of bias and quality were done by two reviewers. We performed narrative summaries of prevalence due to high heterogeneity and provided a meta-analysis for odds of vision/hearing impairment among incarcerated youth compared to controls. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42022319876. Findings: We identified 94 eligible full-texts for screening among 10070 assessed. Twenty-three studies (median year of publication 1989) including 34,993 participants (mean age 15.8 years, range 10.2–20.9) were included in analyses. The reported prevalence of vision impairment among incarcerated youth ranged from 1.35% to 66.0% (16 studies), hearing impairment from 1.36% to 50.4% (11 studies). In meta-analysis of four studies providing control samples, odds of hearing impairment were increased among incarcerated youth compared to controls (Odds Ratio [OR] 4.20, 95% CI 1.79–9.86; p < 0.001, I2= 48.4%). Six studies on vision impairment reported a pooled OR of 1.60 (95% CI 0.95–2·70; p = 0.08, I2= 69.9%); leave-one-out meta-analysis found removal of a single outlying study left a highly significant OR (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.65–2.19; p < 0.001). Interpretation: The prevalence of vision and hearing impairment are higher among incarcerated youth than the general population, although highly variable. These results highlight the need for screening and treatment of vision and hearing conditions at reception into prisons and follow up on release.

AB - Background: More than 250,000 children <18 years were incarcerated globally in 2020, and 1.5 million cycle through custody annually. We reviewed studies reporting associations of vision/hearing impairment with the criminal justice encounters among young people aged 10–24 years. Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, Cochrane, legal and social science data bases to identify studies that describe vision impairment/eye disease and hearing impairment/ear disease among incarcerated youth from inception to 1 June 2025. We included studies of any design assessing criminal justice system contacts among young people with such impairments. Study selection, data extraction and evaluation of bias and quality were done by two reviewers. We performed narrative summaries of prevalence due to high heterogeneity and provided a meta-analysis for odds of vision/hearing impairment among incarcerated youth compared to controls. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42022319876. Findings: We identified 94 eligible full-texts for screening among 10070 assessed. Twenty-three studies (median year of publication 1989) including 34,993 participants (mean age 15.8 years, range 10.2–20.9) were included in analyses. The reported prevalence of vision impairment among incarcerated youth ranged from 1.35% to 66.0% (16 studies), hearing impairment from 1.36% to 50.4% (11 studies). In meta-analysis of four studies providing control samples, odds of hearing impairment were increased among incarcerated youth compared to controls (Odds Ratio [OR] 4.20, 95% CI 1.79–9.86; p < 0.001, I2= 48.4%). Six studies on vision impairment reported a pooled OR of 1.60 (95% CI 0.95–2·70; p = 0.08, I2= 69.9%); leave-one-out meta-analysis found removal of a single outlying study left a highly significant OR (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.65–2.19; p < 0.001). Interpretation: The prevalence of vision and hearing impairment are higher among incarcerated youth than the general population, although highly variable. These results highlight the need for screening and treatment of vision and hearing conditions at reception into prisons and follow up on release.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Hearing impairment

KW - Incarceration

KW - Recidivism

KW - Vision impairment

KW - Youth

U2 - 10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103590

DO - 10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103590

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105020807034

SN - 2589-5370

VL - 89

JO - eClinicalMedicine

JF - eClinicalMedicine

ER -

Association of vision impairment and hearing impairment with encounters in the criminal justice system among children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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