Australian Psychiatrists and Trainee Psychiatrists’ Perceptions of Chemical Restraint of Adults with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

Background: Psychiatrists prescribe the psychotropic medication that is used to manage behaviors of concern (BOC) in people with intellectual disability (ID) (i.e., chemical restraint), and their attitudes and perceptions towards this treatment are important topics for study. Methods: 133 Queensland psychiatrists and psychiatry trainees completed a survey on attitudes and perceptions of ID and psychotropic medication. Exploratory cluster analysis was performed on 14 Likert items from this survey to detect groupings within the data. Results: Cluster analysis indicated the existence of two distinct clusters. While both groups were willing to be involved in the treatment of adults with ID, Cluster 1 held attitudes that showed inconsistencies with human rights principles and with international guidelines regarding psychotropic medication use for BOC. Conclusions: Our study highlights that the attitudes and perceptions of a significant subgroup of psychiatrists may contribute to the overprescribing of psychotropics for BOC.