Observational studyPloS one2019
Mental disorders and mental health symptoms during imprisonment: A three-year follow-up study.
Observational study in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Beyond Prison Walls: A Scoping Review of Incarceration's Public Health Impacts in Latin America.Wellcome open research · 2026Pooled it
- Trajectories of mental health symptoms, suicide attempts and substance use disorders among women after prison release in Santiago, Chile.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2025Article
- Exploring the mental healthcare needs of Swiss pre-trial detainees: A pilot investigation of an on-site psychiatric day clinic.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Longitudinal trajectories of mental health problems and their association with reoffending in a Dutch pre-trial prison cohort.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- 'Maybe It Is Only in Prison That I Could Change Like This' The Course of Severe Mental Illnesses During Imprisonment - A Qualitative 3-Year Follow-Up Study From Chile.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Article
- Psychiatric care in prisons: towards the inevitable integration of regional health services to manage inmates with mental health problems.Revista espanola de sanidad penitenciariaArticle
- Mental and behavioral disorders in the prison context.Revista espanola de sanidad penitenciariaReview
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundData on the course of mental disorders during imprisonment are scarce. Longitudinal studies from high-income Western countries point to improvements of symptoms over time. The aim of the present study was to assess mental disorders and symptoms three years after baseline evaluation at imprisonment and to determine predictors of change in a South American prison context.
methodsConsecutively admitted prisoners in Santiago de Chile were assessed at intake and reassessed after three years using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the Symptom-Check-List 90 Revised (SCL-90-R). The global severity index (GSI) was calculated with standard deviations (SD) and compared using paired t-tests. The prevalence of mental disorders at baseline and at follow-up were compared using McNemar tests. Analyses of variance were conducted to evaluate whether prespecified socio-demographic variables and disorders at baseline predicted symptom change at follow-up.
results73 (94%) out of 78 prisoners participated. The prevalence of major mental illnesses was lower at follow-up: 47 (64%) at intake vs. 23 (32%) at follow-up had major depression (p<0.001); 22 (30%) at intake vs. 10 (14%) at follow-up had psychosis (p = 0.008). The mean GSI improved from 1.97 (SD 0.65) at intake to 1.16 (SD 0.82) at follow-up (p<0.001). Depression at baseline (F = 9.39; [Formula: see text] = 0.137; β = -0.67; p = 0.003) and working or studying during imprisonment (F = 10.61; [Formula: see text] = 0.152; β = -0.71; p = 0.002) were associated with strong improvement of the GSI at follow-up, whereas psychosis at intake was associated with relatively small symptom improvement (F = 12.11; [Formula: see text] = 0.17; β = 0.81; p = 0.001).
conclusionsIn a resource poor prison context in South America, mental health symptoms and disorders improve considerably over three years during imprisonment. This applies especially to people with depression at intake. Offers to work or study during imprisonment may improve mental health outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.