RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The French mental health law, first enacted on July 5, 2011, introduced the possibility of psychiatric commitment in case of extreme urgency (imminent peril - ASPPI). The decision of involuntary admission can then be made by the hospital director based on a medical certificate, without the need of a third party request. This procedure was intended to be applied on an exceptional basis, but its use is steadily increasing against the other types of involuntary care. Our study aimed at comparing the characteristics of patients who had received an indication for involuntary admission due to imminent peril (ASPPI) or at the request of a third party (ASPDT/u) in a psychiatric emergency ward, according to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and regarding the potential implication of a third party. METHODS: An observational study was conducted among patients from the Centre Psychiatrique d'Orientation et d'Accueil (CPOA), located at Sainte-Anne hospital in Paris, from August 1st to 31st, 2016. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty patients with an indication for involuntary commitment were included, 101 of whom for ASPDT/u (67 %) and 49 for ASPPI (33 %). For more than half of the patients from the ASPPI group, a third party had been identified with (39 %) or without (17 %) contact information. Compared to ASPDT/u patients, ASPPI individuals were more socially vulnerable, showed more negligence, and had a lower mean functioning score. The indication for ASPPI status was also associated with behavioural quirks, prior psychiatric hospitalization (especially as an ASPPI patient) and with the diagnosis of chronic psychosis instead of mood disorder. CONCLUSION: Our exploratory results help to better understand how the ASPPI procedure is used in psychiatric emergency wards six years after enactment of the law. They highlight the differences between ASPPI patients and ASPDT/u and raise ethical issues regarding involuntary psychiatric care.
