title: Management of violent behaviour in acutely relapsed schizophrenics.
abstract: The management of aggressive behaviour has always been a critical issue in psychiatry. Finding measures that can be used to accurately predict the likelihood of assaultative behaviour and thus ensure timeous appropriate pharmacological management remains a dilemma. The study objective was to investigate the naturalistic, pharmacological management of inpatient aggressive behaviour in a group of 50 schizophrenic subjects with a view to determine: (1) whether a presenting history of recent violence lead to altered pharmacological management and (2) whether the NOSIE could be regarded as a useful assessment tool with regards to inpatient behaviour management. No significant difference could be demonstrated between the 2 subsets of subjects (history of violence vs none) with respect to total doses of medication administered. No statistical correlation could be found between the total NOSIE score and the dose of psychotropic medication used. The relationship between a subset of NOSIE-items and the total dose of medication was more complex and a clear linear relationship could be demonstrated for a total score of 0 to 5. In this particular ward setting a presenting history of recent violent behaviour did not influence the administration of medication and neither could the clinical judgement employed by the nursing staff to manage inpatient behaviour be captured by the NOSIE. However, a five-item subset of the NOSIE with questions relating to aggression and irritability warrants further scrutiny in this regard.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch, Stickland Hospital.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koen
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Lategan
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jordaan
authors.forename: D J H
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Niehaus
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Emsley
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D006801:Humans; D011568:Psychiatric Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D012008:Recurrence; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000451:nursing* / Q000628:therapy; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control*