Mental disorders and mental health symptoms during imprisonment: A three-year follow-up study

BACKGROUND: Data 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. METHODS: Consecutively 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. RESULTS: 73 (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