OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the feasibility and effects of a 12-week intervention combining aerobic and strength exercises in prison inmates with psychiatric disorders. DESIGN: Two parallel-group, randomized controlled trials. SETTING: A psychiatric prison hospital. SUBJECTS: Forty-one men prison inmates (mean age +/- SD 38.2 +/- 9.2 years, mean prison duration +/- SD 2.6 +/- 2.5 years) with psychiatric disorders (primarily personality disorder n = 27; mean illness duration +/- SD 12.0 +/- 10.5 years). INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomly allocated to intervention group consisted of exercise plus usual care (n = 21) or control group which received usual care (n = 20) for 12 weeks. The exercise programme included three weekly sessions of group-based moderate-to-high intensity combined exercises designed and supervised by exercise professionals. MAIN MEASURES: Fitness and anthropometric measures were assessed using field-based tests (6-minute walk, Incremental Shuttle Walk, Arm-Curl, and Chair-Stand), handgrip dynamometry, bioelectrical impedance, and waist and hip circumferences. RESULTS: There were no adverse events, and 10 intervention participants withdrew. The remaining 11 participants attended a mean of 28 sessions, of which nine met the compliance criteria. Between-group change differences substantially favoured the compliance intervention group for the 6-minute walk (+21.2%), Incremental Shuttle Walk (+33.9%), Arm-Curl (+13.8%), waist (-3.5%), waist/height0.5 (-1.7%) (-2.7%), waist/hip (-3.4%), and Body Shape Index (-3.3%) (-3.5%). Additional analysis showed beneficial effects of exercise participation on handgrip strength. CONCLUSION: The intervention was safe, had a high dropout rate, and seemed to be effective for improving fitness and anthropometric measures in men prison inmates with psychiatric disorders who attended and participated in the exercise sessions.

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