[The use of involuntary commitment and other compulsory treatment in psychiatry. A study of registered compulsory treatment, physical restraint and the use of physical force].

The study covers nine psychiatric hospitals in Denmark that together account for 20% of all admissions to mental hospitals in the country. The period of investigation was from 1. January 1990 to 31. December 1991. Compulsory treatment, mechanical restraint and physical coercion were investigated. The number of patients that are submitted to compulsory treatment is relatively small compared to the total number of patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals. The use of the different kinds of coercion may among other factors depend upon the severity of the patient's disease, the bed occupancy and the amount of staff available including the number of doctors. The study shows differences among the participating departments in the use of mechanical restraint with wrist and/or ankle cuffs but not with a waist-belt. This may depend more upon different traditions on the wards than upon demographic differences. According to Danish law a doctor must attend a patient experiencing mechanical restraint. In an emergency situation the staff are permitted to effectuate the restraint without the doctor being present but a doctor must see the patient immediately afterwards and sign a protocol. This was the case in only about one third of all cases.