Health related quality of life and physical activity in prison: a multicenter observational study in Italy

Abstract

Jails may not seem like the ideal place to fight sedentary behavior, but, in any case, health promotion can occur within its walls. The heterogeneity of Italian jails, and particularly relative PEAs therein (areas had different characteristics between jails), suggests that such spaces should be regulated or well defined. Furthermore, the implement of training schedules could be done in a standardized way. Despite this heterogeneity both the physical and mental components of inmates' quality of life were associated to a high level of physical activity.

The effect of exercise on improving quality of life and self-esteem of inmates in Greek prisons

“…Post results between the two groups showed the positive effect of the three sessions per week exercise program on both mental and physical quality of life components and self-esteem of experiment group participants. In particular, experiment group individuals reported as experiencing less problems with daily activities and felling more energetic and vigorous compared to control group individuals who did not participate in training sessions, in agreement with psychological well-being benefits found in similar studies reporting improved physical and mental health (Mannocci et al, 2017;Obadiora, 2016;Perez-Moreno et al, 2007) and self-esteem scores (Basaran et al, 2016;Verdot et al, 2016). Mannocci et al (2017) investigated the time spent carrying out physical activity among inmates in Italian detention environments and its relation to QoL, whereas Obadiora (2016) examined the effect of football participation on QoL perceptions among randomized inmates in Nigerian prisons and Perez-Moreno et al (2007) studied QoL of Spanish prison inmates participating in a fitness program.…”

“…The instrument contains 12 questions that provide two outcome measures, that is, a Physical Component Score (PCS) and a Mental Component Score (MCS) evaluating HRQoL (Ware, Kosinski, & Keller, 1994;1996;1998). The SF-12 has been already © 2019 University of Alicante used in studies evaluating quality of life of inmates (Mannocci, Masala, Mipatrini, Rizzo et al, 2015;Mannocci et al, 2017). The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg, 1965) as used in Doganis, Theodorakis and Bagiatis (1991) study, that measures overall self-esteem and personal worthlessness by asking the respondents to reflect on their current feelings prior and after application of the exercise program.…”

“…Overall, exercise is associated with improving quality of life components of prisoners, with inmate participants exhibiting higher general quality of life perception compared to those who did not exercise (Obadiora, 2016), with both physical and mental components of inmates' quality of life associated with high levels of physical activity (Mannocci, Mipatrini, D' Egidio, Rizzo et al, 2017) and improved self-esteem (Basaran, 2016;Verdot, Champely, Clement, & Massarelli, 2010).…”

Consequences of mental and physical health for reentry and recidivism: Toward a health‐based model of desistance*

“…Expanding recreational opportunities and increasing access to physical therapies for those with more serious physical health limitations are other sensible ways to improve prisoner health (Gallant, Sherry, & Nicholson, ). Furthermore, findings from studies of the general population point to the importance of alleviating depressive symptoms through exercise regimens (Cooney, Dwan, & Mead, ), and researchers also suggest that enhancing physical activity can improve both physical and mental quality of life among prisoners (Mannocci et al., ). As safety considerations are paramount to any policy changes in day‐to‐day prison administration, it should be noted that researchers find prisoners who are more involved in recreation tend to display better behavior (Martos‐Garcia, Devís‐Devís, & Sparkes, ; Meek & Lewis, ).…”

Impact of exercise intervention on anxiety levels and mood profile of Greek prison inmates

“…Evidence across research literature shows that exercise in detention environments improves mental health related factors such as self-esteem (Basaran, 2016;Verdot, Champely, Clement, & Massarelli, 2010) mood (Hilyer, Wilson, Dillon, Caro, Jenkins, Spencer, & Booker, 1982) and quality of life (Mannocci, Mipatrini, D' Egidio, Rizzo et al, 2017), while reduces aggression (Williams, Collingwood, Coles, & Schmeer, 2015), anxiety and depression (Ghanbarzadeh & Mohamadi, 2012;Buckaloo, Krug, & Nelson, 2009) stress (Bilderbeck, Farias, Brazil, Jakobowitz, & Wikholm, 2013;Harner, Hanlon, & Garfinkel, 2010) and sense of hopelessness (Cashin, Potter, & Butler, 2008) among prisoners.…”