Outcomes of compulsorily admitted schizophrenia patients who agreed or disagreed to prolong their hospitalization

BackgroundCompulsory admission is practiced around the world with legislative variations. The legal status during compulsory hospitalization might be changed to consent or the patient might be discharged against medical advice (AMA), if he no longer poses a risk.ObjectiveIn the present study, we investigated the outcome of compulsory admitted patients who left the hospital after commitment period despite request by the treating psychiatrist to remain in the hospital (AMA) vs those who agreed to prolong their hospitalization.ResultsOf 320 patients with schizophrenia admitted involuntarily, 157 (49%) were discharged without converting to consent, and 163 (51%) agreed to stay in the hospital. There was no difference in baseline clinical and demographic characteristics and outcome measures (rate of readmission, legal status of next admission, and length of stay in the next admission) between the 2 groups.ConclusionsProlongation of length of stay in compulsorily psychiatrist-ordered schizophrenia patients did not affect their rate of rehospitalizations or the length of next admission compared with those who left the hospital immediately after the change in their legal status AMA.