Citation

Pawlowski T, Baranowski P. Indian J. Psychiatry 2017; 59(4): 429-434.

Affiliation

Lower Silesian Centre of Mental Health Wroclaw, Wroclaw Medical University, Wroclaw, Poland.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Medknow Publications)

DOI

10.4103/psychiatry.IndianJPsychiatry_100_17

PMID

29497184

PMCID

PMC5806321

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Coercive measures are applied in psychiatry as a last resort to control self- and hetero-aggressive behaviors in situations where all other possible strategies have failed. For ethical and clinical reasons, the number of instances of coercion should be reduced as far as possible.

AIM: The aim of the study was to identify sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of patients that were associated with coercion during hospital treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study has a descriptive, longitudinal design, based on a 1 year prospective observation of patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital consisting of six inpatient psychiatric wards with a total of 236 beds.

RESULTS: In the 12-month period covered by the study, 1476 people (778 men and 698 women) were treated in the hospital; 226 of them (15%) were subjected to coercion on a total of 405 occasions. The most frequently implemented form of direct coercion was mechanical restraint. The following factors involved in the use of direct coercion were identified: Male gender, young age, mental disorders resulting from the abuse of psychoactive drugs, involuntary admission to the hospital and the use of direct coercion in the past.

CONCLUSION: Assessments of patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics can help clinicians recognize patients who are particularly at risk of being subjected to coercive measures.

Language: en

Keywords

Coercion; involuntary treatment; physical restraint