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Characteristics of adolescents frequently restrained in acute psychiatric units in Norway: a nationwide study

Overview of attention for article published in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, January 2017
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Title
Characteristics of adolescents frequently restrained in acute psychiatric units in Norway: a nationwide study
Published in
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, January 2017
DOI 10.1186/s13034-016-0136-1
Pubmed ID
Authors

Astrid Furre, Ragnhild Sørum Falk, Leiv Sandvik, Svein Friis, Maria Knutzen, Ketil Hanssen-Bauer

Abstract

The use of restraints in adolescent psychiatric settings requires particular professional, ethical, and legal considerations. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the number of restraint episodes per patient was related to any of several characteristics of the adolescents. In this nationwide study, we included all adolescents restrained during the period 2008-2010 (N = 267) in Norwegian adolescent acute psychiatric inpatient units. They constitute 6.5% of the adolescents hospitalized in these units in the same period of time. We collected data on the number of restraint episodes they experienced during the study period; Poisson regression was then used to analyze the impact of gender, social, mental health, and treatment characteristics on the frequency of restraint. We developed a risk index for the likelihood of experiencing multiple restraint episodes. We found a skewed distribution of restraint episodes in which a small group (18%) of restrained adolescents experienced a majority (77%) of the restraint episodes. A large percentage of the restrained adolescents (36%) experienced only one restraint episode. Risk factors for multiple restraint episodes were female gender, lower psychosocial functioning (Children's Global Assessment Scale below 35), more and longer admissions, and concomitant use of pharmacological restraint. Except for gender, we used these variables to develop a risk index that was moderately associated with multiple restraint episodes. As a small group of patients accounted for a large percentage of the restraint episodes, future research should further investigate the reasons for and consequences of multiple restraint episodes in patients at acute adolescent psychiatric units, and evaluate preventive approaches targeted to reduce their risk for experiencing restraint.

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Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 37 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 37 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 5 14%
Researcher 4 11%
Student > Bachelor 3 8%
Other 3 8%
Student > Postgraduate 3 8%
Other 4 11%
Unknown 15 41%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 10 27%
Psychology 5 14%
Nursing and Health Professions 2 5%
Social Sciences 1 3%
Unknown 19 51%