Cantonal Differences in the Implementation of Involuntary Admission in Switzerland

Abstract

Objective To examine sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of persons hospitalized in five psychiatric hospitals from regions with different structural characteristics compared with persons hospitalized voluntarily. Methods Descriptive analyses of routine data on approximately 57000 cases of 33000 patients treated for a primary ICD-10 psychiatric diagnosis at one of the participating hospitals from 2016 to 2019. Results Admission rates, length of stay, rates of further coercive measures, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the affected persons differ between the different regions. Conclusion There are considerable regional differences between regulations and implementation of the admission procedures and the sample. Causal relationships between regional specifics and the results cannot be inferred.