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Background/Objectives: In Belgium, involuntary psychiatric hospitalization is authorized in the presence of certain criteria governed by the law relating to the protection of the mentally ill. The number of involuntary hospitalizations has been increasing continuously in recent years. Since personality disorders are frequent comorbidities in involuntarily hospitalized patients, the aim of this study was to investigate the potential role played by comorbid personality disorders in the decisions about involuntary hospitalization made during urgent forensic assessment. Methods: A total of 565 individuals were retrospectively recruited from the database of urgent forensic assessment carried out in the Psychiatric Emergency Department. Logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the risk of involuntary hospitalization associated with comorbid personality disorders in patients referred for urgent forensic assessment. Results: 66.7% of urgent forensic assessments resulted in involuntary hospitalization. In addition, comorbid personality disorders (especially borderline personality disorder) were associated with a lower risk of involuntary hospitalization in patients referred for urgent forensic assessment. Conclusions: In this study, we demonstrated that urgent forensic assessments frequently result in involuntary hospitalizations. Furthermore, this study highlighted that comorbid personality disorders (especially borderline personality disorder) appeared to have a major impact on the decision not to involuntarily hospitalize patients referred for urgent forensic assessment. These elements therefore justify the establishment of adequate clinical reflection to avoid the stigmatization related to these frequent comorbidities in patients at risk of involuntary hospitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their controversiality, involuntary admissions in psychiatric departments remain a central issue in mental health care. The present study aims to identify demographic and clinical factors possibly associated with emergency involuntary psychiatric assessment and its outcome in Greece. This study was carried out in the psychiatric department of the University General Hospital of Alexandroupolis (UGHA) from 1 March 2018 to 28 February 2019. The sample included 191 individuals who had been psychiatrically assessed without their consent following a prosecutorial order. The majority of the involuntary assessments resulted in hospitalization (71%), with 51% of them resulting in involuntary hospitalization. Almost all patients diagnosed with "F20–29 schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders" were subsequently admitted to the psychiatric department of the UGHA (77 of 81, 66 of them involuntarily). Higher admission rates were recorded among those who had been referred from the Prosecutor's Office of regions that are located far from the psychiatric department of UGHA (Fisher's exact test, p-value = 0.045). In multivariate logistic regression, prior contact with psychiatric services and having an "F20–29 schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders" diagnosis was statistically significant with admission to the hospital as an outcome variable. Our study suggests an increased risk of involuntary admission among patients with psychosis, patients who had visited a psychiatric service prior to their assessment as well as those living further away from the main psychiatric services of the hospital. Better organization of community psychiatric services in remote places from hospital central services may lead to fewer prosecutorial referrals and coercive measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study in an adolescent clinical inpatient population how clinical, background and psychological factors differ between adolescents referred voluntarily or involuntarily. In this prospective cohort study, we compared adolescents (age 13–17 years, n = 206) who had been referred to psychiatric hospitalization for the first time in their life either voluntarily (n = 144) or involuntarily (n = 62). We gathered from clinical records data on the source, mode and reason for referral as well as on whether after referral the subjects were admitted to the hospital voluntarily or not, and whether they were committed to involuntary hospitalization after the observation period. Diagnostics was based on Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) interview, supplemented by information from clinical records. Structured self-reports provided information on family background, depressive symptoms, substance use, defense styles, self-image and perceived social support. The majority of referrals due to psychotic symptoms were involuntary, whereas self-harm was the primary reason for involuntary and voluntary referrals in comparable extent. After diagnostic evaluation, no significant difference in psychotic disorders was observed between the two groups, but anxiety disorders were more prevalent among inpatients referred voluntarily than involuntarily. Among adolescents referred involuntary, parents were more often unemployed and had mental health problems. In self-assessments, mature defense style and more positive self-image were associated with adolescents referred involuntarily compared with those referred voluntarily. Not only psychiatric but also psychological and social factors were associated with involuntary referral for psychiatric hospitalization in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identifying which factors contribute to involuntary psychiatric hospitalization may support initiatives to reduce its frequency. This study examines the sociodemographic, clinical, and contextual factors associated with involuntary hospitalization of patients from five Portuguese psychiatric departments in 2002, 2007 and 2012. Methods: Data from all admissions were extracted from clinical files. A Poisson generalized linear model estimated the association between the number of involuntary hospitalizations per patient in one year and sociodemographic, clinical, and contextual factors. Results: An increment of involuntary hospitalizations was associated with male gender [exp( β ^ ) = 1.31; 95%CI 1.06–1.62, p < 0.05], having secondary and higher education [exp( β ^ ) = 1.45; 95%CI 1.05–2.01, p < 0.05, and exp( β ^ ) = 1.89; 95%CI 1.38–2.60, p < 0.001, respectively], a psychiatric diagnosis of psychosis [exp( β ^ ) = 2.02; 95%CI 1.59–2.59, p < 0.001], and being admitted in 2007 and in 2012 [exp( β ^ ) = 1.61; 95%CI 1.21–2.16, p < 0.01, and exp( β ^ ) = 1.73; 95%CI 1.31–2.32, p < 0.001, respectively]. A decrease in involuntary hospitalizations was associated with being married/cohabitating [exp( β ^ ) = 0.74; 95%CI 0.56–0.99, p < 0.05], having experienced a suicide attempt [exp( β ^ ) = 0.26; 95%CI 0.15–0.42, p < 0.001], and belonging to the catchment area of three of the psychiatric services evaluated [exp( β ^ ) = 0.65; 95%CI 0.49–0.86, p < 0.01, exp( β ^ ) = 0.67; 95%CI 0.49–0.90, p < 0.01, and exp( β ^ ) = 0.67; 95%CI 0.46–0.96, p < 0.05 for Hospital de Magalhães Lemos, Centro Hospitalar Psiquiátrico de Lisboa and Unidade Local de Saúde do Baixo Alentejo, respectively]. Conclusions: The findings suggest that involuntary psychiatric hospitalizations in Portugal are associated with several sociodemographic, clinical, and contextual factors. This information may help identify high-risk patients and inform the development of better-targeted preventive interventions to reduce these hospitalizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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