Patients' views of involuntary hospital admission after 1 and 3 months: prospective study in 11 European countries.
BACKGROUND
Legislation and practice of involuntary hospital admission vary substantially among European countries, but differences in outcomes have not been studied.


OBJECTIVE
To explore patients' views following involuntary hospitalisation in different European countries.


METHODS
In a prospective study in 11 countries, 2326 consecutive involuntary patients admitted to psychiatric hospital departments were interviewed within 1 week of admission; 1809 were followed up 1 month and 1613 3 months later. Patients' views as to whether the admission was right were the outcome criterion.


RESULTS
In the different countries, between 39 and 71% felt the admission was right after 1 month, and between 46 and 86% after 3 months. Females, those living alone and those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia had more negative views. Adjusting for confounding factors, differences between countries were significant.


CONCLUSIONS
International differences in legislation and practice may be relevant to outcomes and inform improvements in policies, particularly in countries with poorer outcomes.
Priebe
Stefan
S
Academic Unit, Newham Centre for Mental Health, London, UK. s.priebe@qmul.ac.uk
Katsakou
Christina
C
Glöckner
Matthias
M
Dembinskas
Algirdas
A
Fiorillo
Andrea
A
Karastergiou
Anastasia
A
Kiejna
Andrzej
A
Kjellin
Lars
L
Nawka
Pìtr
P
Onchev
George
G
Raboch
Jiri
J
Schuetzwohl
Matthias
M
Solomon
Zahava
Z
Torres-González
Francisco
F
Wang
Duolao
D
Kallert
Thomas
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult