Drug refusal: a study of psychiatric inpatients.
The authors studied patients' refusal of medication during a three-month period on an inpatient service of a community mental health center. Although refusal of medication was common, most episodes were self-limited. Only 5 of 72 episodes seriously impaired patient care; each of these cases appeared to be delusionally motivated. Legal conceptions of a right to refuse treatment may not accurately portray the realities of the clinical situation, in which patients' refusal is determined by the dynamics of their illness rather than reflecting a principled exercise of their legal rights.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003617:Dangerous Behavior; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D008875:Middle Aged; D010344:Patient Advocacy / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior