title: Risk of violence of inpatients with severe mental illness--do patients with schizophrenia pose harm to others?
abstract: Individuals suffering from schizophrenia are frequently considered to be dangerous. The current longitudinal chart review was carried out to investigate the diagnostic mix of patients who were admitted to the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the Medical University Innsbruck due to risk of harm to others. The sample consisted of all adult inpatients admitted to psychiatric acute care units in the years 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2007. Data collection included diagnoses, criteria for risk of harm to others, and the use of mechanical restraint. Altogether, 7222 admissions were reviewed. Of these, 529 patients had to be admitted to a locked unit because of risk of harm to others. Among those mechanical restraint was more often used in patients with organic mental disorders, Cluster B personality disorders, and mania than in patients with schizophrenia. Patients suffering from schizophrenia with comorbid psychoactive substance use constitute a potentially harmful population and are therefore frequently admitted to locked units due to risk of harm to others. However, in the current study additional coercive measures were more commonly applied in patients suffering from personality disorders and organic mental disorders.
authors.affiliation: Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Biological Psychiatry Division, Anichstr. 35A - 6020 Innsbruck, Austria. Electronic address: monika.edlinger@i-med.ac.at.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Edlinger
authors.affiliation: Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Biological Psychiatry Division, Anichstr. 35A - 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Anna-Sophia
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rauch
authors.affiliation: Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, General and Social Psychiatry Division, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kemmler
authors.affiliation: Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Biological Psychiatry Division, Anichstr. 35A - 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Nursen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yalcin-Siedentopf
authors.affiliation: Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Biological Psychiatry Division, Anichstr. 35A - 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, General and Social Psychiatry Division, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: W Wolfgang
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: Fleischhacker
authors.affiliation: Medical University Innsbruck, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Biological Psychiatry Division, Anichstr. 35A - 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D012306:Risk; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Aggressive behaviour; Comorbidity; Dementia; Locked unit; Organic mental disorder; Personality disorder; Substance use disorder