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Characteristics of patients referred by police to a psychiatric hospital
journal contribution
posted on 2023-07-26, 13:10 authored by Reshin Maharaj, Donna Gillies, Sharon Andrew, Louise O'BrienTo identify any differences between patients referred by police compared with patients referred from other sources, to a psychiatric hospital in Australia, a retrospective audit of 200 patient files was undertaken. The two most common reasons for the involuntary referral of patients by police were bizarre ideas (33%) and threats of suicide (28%). When 101 patients referred by police were compared with 99 patients from other sources, police referrals were three times more likely to be diagnosed with a mental and behavioural disorder because of psychoactive substance use, less likely to be diagnosed with a mood disorder, and less likely to be diagnosed as psychotic. Police referrals were more likely to have worse functional scores; exhibit aggressive behaviour; spend fewer days in hospital; more likely to be admitted to the psychiatric intensive care unit, and to be secluded. The most important predictor for a police referral was drug or alcohol problems. The study indicates that patients referred by the police were more likely to demonstrate particular characteristics compared with patients referred by other sources.
History
Refereed
- Yes
Volume
18Issue number
3Page range
205-212Publication title
Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health NursingISSN
1365-2850External DOI
Publisher
WileyLanguage
- other
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Legacy posted date
2013-06-03Legacy Faculty/School/Department
ARCHIVED Faculty of Health, Social Care & Education (until September 2018)Usage metrics
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