IOT is a court-ordered treatment in the community. It is used to ensure therapeutic compliance in some patients with severe mental illness. It was proposed for patients with no awareness of illness, high risk of relapse, disrupting behaviour and hospitalization. IOT is being used in the province of Gipuzkoa (Basque Country, Spain) since 1997.

Our objective was to assess the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of the outpatients under involuntary treatment in our province.

This is a retrospective study of the patients under IOT in the province of Gipuzkoa during October 2007 (n=87). The following variables were considered: sex, age, work and living situation, drug abuse, violent behaviours and number of previous hospitalizations.

Gender: male 70.2%; female 29.8 %. Age average: 39.5 (SD 9.6). Living situation: with relatives: 58.7%; alone 20%; in couple: 14.7%; institution: 6.7%. Work situation: inactive 60.8%; protected work 7.8%; incapacitated 3.9%; retired 2%. Diagnosis: schizophrenia 57%; delusional disorder 16.5%; bipolar disorder 8.9%; personality disorder 8.9%; schizoaffective disorder 5.1%; other 3.8%. Drug abuse: none 42.3%; multiple drugs abuse 31%; cannabis 9.9%; amphetamines 1.4%; opiates 1.4%. Violent behaviours: none 39.7%; violence against relatives 37%; violence against others 16.4%; autoaggression: 4.1%; both: 2.7%. Average of previous incomes: 3.79 (SD 3.8).

The most common profile of individuals under IOT in Gipuzkoa was a middle-aged male, affected by a psychotic disorder, drug abuser, with frequent violent behaviours.