Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia
Corso di laurea in infermieristica - Sede di Modena
| Thesis Title | Demographic and clinical variables related to involuntarily patients admitted to an Italian Service of Psychiatric Diagnosis and Treatment during 1-ye |
|---|---|
| Name | Vecchi Laura |
| Supervisor(s) | Ferri Paola |
| Academic Year | 2015/16 |
| Thesis type | Non research thesis |
Abstract
In Italy, the compulsory sanitary treatment is settled by Law 180/78 that establishes the following 3 criteria: 1) acute psychiatric conditions which require urgent treatment, 2) refusal of treatment clearly expressed by patients capable of consent, 3) treatment required is necessary, unavoidable and cannot be given in outpatient services. The same Law established the definitive closure of psychiatric hospitals and the opening of new acute psychiatric wards, called Service of Psychiatric Diagnosis and Treatment (SPDT), located in a General Hospital, which cater for patients with acute mental disorders requiring voluntary and involuntary hospitalizations. The purpose of this study was to analyse the variables associated with patients who require compulsory treatment in order to highlight the risk factors for this compulsory treatment. We retrospectively collected all hospitalizations in the SPDT of a northern Italian town (catchment areas of 520,000 inhabitants) from 1-1-2015 to 31-12-2015. We collected demographic and clinical variables related to voluntary and involuntary patients and their hospitalizations. We statistically analysed the comparisons between them. Our sample, composed of 396 patients, was divided into voluntary (VP=236) and involuntary (IP=160) patients according to the regimen of their hospitalizations: voluntary (n=304) and involuntary (n=197).Our results highlight that patients who required compulsory treatments were affected by the most severe psychiatric disorders with social maladjustment, needing complex therapeutic and rehabilitative strategies in order to counteract aggressive behaviour, poor therapeutic compliance and prolonged hospitalizations.