title: [Are there different tendencies in the ordering of care and confinement between urban and rural areas? A Bavarian comparison between Munich and Alpine region].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare long-term trends in legal guardianship policy and involuntary psychiatric admissions in urban and rural areas for people suffering from mental illness.
  
  
  METHODS
  New and current legal guardianships as well as involuntary admissions according to Guardianship Law and also to Commitment Law were examined from 1998 to 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All investigated variables (new and current legal guardianships as well as involuntary admissions) increased significantly along assessed period of time. Current guardianship rates are lower in urban area. On the other hand, rates of involuntary admissions according to Guardianship Law are in urban area 3fold higher and those according to Commitment Law doubled. New and current guardianships' ratio as well as ratio between involuntary admissions according Commitment Law and Guardianship Law remained quite stable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The large differences in legal guardianship policy and involuntary treatment between urban and rural regions cannot be explained on the basis of available data. The role of community-based care networks in the process of reducing involuntary admissions should be further examined.
authors.affiliation: Zentrum für Psychiatrie Südwürttemberg, Universität zu Ulm. juan.valdes-stauber@zfpzentrum.de
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Valdes-Stauber
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wiederholt
authors.forename: Reinhold
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kilian
mesh_terms: D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D005858:Germany; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007872:Legal Guardians / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*