Objective:

To determine the prevalence of anxiety disorders and their link to sociodemographic characteristics, coping strategies, prison conditions and care services provided by the Instituto Nacional Penitenciario y Carcelario [National Penitentiary and Prison Institute] to people incarcerated in the Establecimiento Penitenciario de Mediana Seguridad y Carcelario Bellavista and the Complejo Carcelario y Penitenciario Pedregal, Medellín, 2014.

Methodology:

A cross-sectional study was carried out between June and July 2014 to explore the possible associations between the studied variables and anxiety disorders in inmates, applying random sampling resulting in the participation of 532 inmates (52.1% men and 47.9% women). The International Neuropsychiatric Interview, modified Coping strategy scale and the questionnaire for perceived social support were applied.

Results:

An anxiety prevalence of 39.5% was found in the last month, indicating that approximately 2 out of 5 inmates had anxiety disorders. The main risk factors for the presence of anxiety were: high perception of mistreatment by other inmates, never receive legal advice from the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute, cannot express difficulties coping, have no positive reassessment and have aggressive reactions.

Conclusion:

Inmates with anxiety disorders show higher risks in characteristics related to events in prison, services provided by the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute and coping strategies than inmates without this type of problem, confirming the vulnerability of this prison group that requires more attention.

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