Emergency control measures for psychiatric inpatients.

Overview

This survey of a large number of patients in psychiatric hospitals found that emergency medication, seclusion or restraint, and one-to-one supervision were used infrequently. However, certain types of patients, namely the young and those in hospital for less than 2 years, were more likely to have received these control measures, Furthermore, psychiatric diagnosis was related to the use of these measures probably as a reflection of the effectiveness of treatment for these disorders. It appeared that these measures were justified based on the fact that patients receiving these controls were more likely than those not receiving controls to manifest active psychosis as well as dangerous behaviors such as physical and sexual assault, fire-setting, and deliberate self injury.