Short-Term Hospitalization Underlies the Similarity between Involuntarily and Voluntarily Admitted Patients: A One-Year Cohort Study

This study compared individuals admitted to a psychiatric hospital under a civil involuntary commitment order (IA) and patients admitted voluntarily (VA) using a one-year, shortest-stay cohort. Data were collected for 439 patients consecutively admitted to a university-affiliated Mental Health Center from March 1, 2012, to February 28, 2013, and discharged within seven days (one-year, shortest-stay cohort). A cross-sectional comparison between IA (n = 106) and VA (n = 333) groups was conducted. Mean length-of-stay was found to be slightly longer (4.7 ± 1.7 days) for the IA group compared to the VA group (3.8 ± 1.9 days; p = 0.019). Both IA and VA groups were similar regarding age, gender, marital status, age of onset, illness duration, and diagnosis. An acute psychotic state as reason for admission was observed 3.4 times more (p