TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2001//
TI  - Characteristics of violent behaviour in acute psychiatric in-patients: a 5-year Italian study
JO  - Acta psychiatrica Scandinavica
A1  - Grassi, L.
A1  - Peron, L.
A1  - Marangoni, C.
A1  - Zanchi, P.
A1  - Vanni, A.
SP  - 273
EP  - 279
VL  - 104
IS  - 4
N2  - OBJECTIVE: In order to examine prospectively the characteristics of violence among psychiatric patients, a 5-year study was carried out in an acute psychiatric unit. METHOD: All assaultive behaviour occurred in the ward during the study period were assessed routinely using the Staff Observation Aggression scale (SOAS). RESULTS: Of 1534 patients admitted to the unit during the study period, 116 were responsible for 329 aggressive episodes (prevalence of violence=7.5%, 2.8 incidents/patient). Most violent patients had an ICD-9 diagnosis of schizophrenia and/or delusional syndromes (55.1%), a history of violence (80.7%) and previous psychiatric admissions (92%). Approximately half of the incidents had no specific cause, occurred during daytime and the first week of admission and, in most cases, were directed towards individuals (77.8%). CONCLUSION: Although confirming the low rate of violence among Italian psychiatric in-patients, the study indicates the need for more attention to the problem of aggression in general hospital psychiatric units.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0001-690X
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -