Characteristics of patients referred by police to a psychiatric hospital

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Abstract

To identify any differences between patients referred by police compared with patients referred from other sources, to a psychiatric hospital in Australia, a retrospective audit of 200 patient files was undertaken. The two most common reasons for the involuntary referral of patients by police were bizarre ideas (33%) and threats of suicide (28%). When 101 patients referred by police were compared with 99 patients from other sources, police referrals were three times more likely to be diagnosed with a mental and behavioural disorder because of psychoactive substance use, less likely to be diagnosed with a mood disorder, and less likely to be diagnosed as psychotic. Police referrals were more likely to have worse functional scores; exhibit aggressive behaviour; spend fewer days in hospital; more likely to be admitted to the psychiatric intensive care unit, and to be secluded. The most important predictor for a police referral was drug or alcohol problems. The study indicates that patients referred by the police were more likely to demonstrate particular characteristics compared with patients referred by other sources. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing.

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APA

Maharaj, R., Gillies, D., Andrew, S., & O’Brien, L. (2011). Characteristics of patients referred by police to a psychiatric hospital. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 18(3), 205–212. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2010.01653.x

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