Behavioural Science Institute (BSI), Radboud University, Den Dolder, the Netherlands.
J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2011 Sep;18(7):614-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2011.01716.x. Epub 2011 Mar 7.
Locking the exit doors of psychiatric wards is believed to reduce the risk of patients absconding. The aims of the study were to investigate both the prevalence of door locking and other exit security measures on UK admission wards, as well as whether door locking appears to be effective in keeping inpatients in. A cross-sectional survey on 136 acute psychiatric wards in the UK was conducted, in which a range of data on patients, staff, and conflict and containment events, including door locking and absconding, were collected from shift to shift during a period of 6 months. About one-third of the participating wards (30%) operated with their ward exit door permanently locked, whereas another third (34%) never locked the ward door. Univariate analyses suggested little association between exit security measures and absconding. A more robust multilevel statistical analysis, however, did indicate a reduction of about 30% of absconding rates when the ward door was locked the entire shift. Although locking the ward door does seem to reduce absconding to a certain extent, it far from completely prevents it. As it may be unrealistic to strive for a 100% absconding-proof ward, alternative measures for door locking to prevent absconding are discussed.
锁定精神科病房的出口门被认为可以降低患者擅自离开的风险。本研究旨在调查英国入院病房上锁和其他出口安全措施的流行情况，以及上锁是否能有效地将住院患者留在病房内。对英国 136 间急性精神科病房进行了横断面调查，在 6 个月的时间内，从一个班次到另一个班次连续收集了有关患者、工作人员以及冲突和约束事件的数据，包括上锁和擅自离开的情况。大约三分之一的参与病房（30%）将病房出口门永久锁定，而另外三分之一（34%）从不锁定病房门。单变量分析表明，出口安全措施与擅自离开之间几乎没有关联。然而，更稳健的多层次统计分析确实表明，当整个班次都锁定病房门时，擅自离开的比例会降低约 30%。尽管锁定病房门确实在一定程度上减少了擅自离开的情况，但远不能完全防止擅自离开。由于争取 100%防止擅自离开的病房可能不切实际，因此讨论了替代上锁措施以防止擅自离开的方法。
