RESUMO
This paper presents the second screening concerning the use of coercive measures in Norwegian mental health institutions. The use of mechanical restraint, seclusion and forced medication was recorded during the first six months of 1989 and of 1990. We found no change in the use of coercive measures from 1989 to 1990, nor did we find any differences when the results of this screening was compared with those of the first screening carried out in 1986-88. Mechanical restraint was the most commonly used coercive measure, and a total of 9402 hours of such constraint was recorded the first six months of 1990. In many cases, a substantial part of the total amount of mechanical restraint in the different institutions at different times referred to a single patient, which created large variations in the use of coercion. No correlation was found between the use of coercion on one hand and size of ward and staff ratio on the other; factors that otherwise are believed to be of importance for use of coercion.
Assuntos
Uso de Medicamentos/tendências , Hospitais Psiquiátricos/tendências , Isolamento de Pacientes/tendências , Psicotrópicos/administração & dosagem , Restrição Física , Hospitais Psiquiátricos/estatística & dados numéricos , Humanos , Transtornos Mentais/tratamento farmacológico , Transtornos Mentais/terapia , Noruega , Isolamento de Pacientes/estatística & dados numéricos , Unidade Hospitalar de Psiquiatria/estatística & dados numéricos , Unidade Hospitalar de Psiquiatria/tendênciasRESUMO
This paper addresses the use of coercive measures in Norwegian mental health care in recent years. The use of mechanical restraint and seclusion was recorded for the first six months of 1986 and 1988. During the first six months of 1988, 203 patients had been restrained mechanically for a total of 10,767 hours, while 73 patients required seclusion for a total of 3,914 hours during the same period. The results showed that there had been no increase in the total number of hours when coercion had been applied over the actual period, but a significant increase was found in the number of patients who had been subjected to coercive measures. These results are discussed in relation to the number of available beds, staff ratio and patient turnover in Norwegian mental health institutions.