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Factors influencing compulsory admission of psychiatric patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Anita Riecher ,
Wulf Rössler ,
Walter Löffler  and
Brigitte Fätkenheuer
Anita Riecher*
Affiliation:
Central Institute for Mental Health, Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany
Wulf Rössler
Affiliation:
Central Institute for Mental Health, Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany
Walter Löffler
Affiliation:
Central Institute for Mental Health, Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany
Brigitte Fätkenheuer
Affiliation:
Central Institute for Mental Health, Mannheim, Federal Republic of Germany
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr Anita Riecher, Central Institute for Mental Health, J 5, Post Box 122120, 6800 Mannheim 1, FRG.
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Synopsis

From 1 January 1984 until 30 June 1986 all 517 compulsorily admitted psychiatric patients of a well-defined mixed rural–urban catchment area in Baden-Württemberg, a southern State of the German Federal Republic, were compared with all 10232 voluntarily admitted patients. Because of the very low frequency of compulsory admissions this population can be regarded as a ‘core group’ of committed patients. In a logit analysis the characteristics distinguishing involuntary from voluntary patients can be reduced to three main factors: the diagnosis ‘schizophrenia/ paranoid disorder’, ‘masculine gender’ and the compound indicator ‘not owning a home’, the latter being mainly associated with youth, masculine gender and low occupational status. The strong association of these characteristics with the criteria ‘severity of disease’ and ‘danger to oneself and others’, both pre-requisites for compulsory admission according to the laws of most countries, is discussed.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , February 1991 , pp. 197 - 208
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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