Characteristics of violent behaviour in acute psychiatric in-patients: a 5-year Italian study

Junior staffing changes and the temporal ecology of adverse incidents in acute psychiatric wards

AIM

This paper reports an examination of the relationship between adverse incident rates, the arrival of new junior staff on wards, and days of the week on acute psychiatric wards.

BACKGROUND

Incidents of violence, absconding and self-harm in acute inpatient services pose risks to patients and staff. Previous research suggests that the arrival of inexperienced new staff may trigger more adverse incidents. Findings on the relationship between incidents and the weekly routine are inconsistent.

METHOD

A retrospective analysis was conducted of formally reported incident rates, records of nursing student allocations and junior doctor rotation patterns, using Poisson Regression. Variance between days of the week was explored using contingency table analysis. The data covered 30 months on 17 psychiatric wards, and were collected in 2002-2004.

FINDINGS

The arrival of new and inexperienced staff on the wards was not associated with increases in adverse incident rates. Most types of incidents were less frequent at weekends and midweek. Incident rates were unchanged on ward-round days, but increased rates were found on the days before and after ward rounds.

CONCLUSION

Increased patient tension is associated with raised incident rates. It may be possible to reduce incident rates by moderating stimulation in the environment and by mobilizing support for patients during critical periods.

Staff injuries after patient-staff incidences in psychiatric acute wards

The aim of the study was to describe the pattern of injuries to various body parts in patient-staff incidents; 507 patient-staff incidents in a psychiatric acute ward during the period 1990-1997 were included. Staff members registered 193 injuries in the head, 112 in the trunk, 265 in the upper extremities and 69 in the lower extremities. No differences between the two sexes or between different levels of education among the nurses were found in the pattern of injuries. Doctors were more often injured in the head and less often injured in the upper extremity than the nurses. The head was more often injured when there was no understandable provocation before the incident and seldom injured when the patients were denied something. Injuries to the trunk were more frequently followed by use of parenteral medication. Parenteral medication and holding the patient with force were more frequently used in incidents where more than one body part was injured. The knowledge of injures after patient-staff incidences may contribute to the education and protective training of the staff of psychiatric acute wards.

Violence in psychiatric units: a 7-year Italian study of persistently assaultive patients

BACKGROUND

The problem of violence and aggressive behaviour among patients with psychiatric disorders need careful assessment to improve the quality of psychiatric care. The aim of this paper is to describe the characteristics of repeated episodes of violence among patients admitted to an Italian psychiatric ward.

METHODS

All violent behaviours, which occurred in a 15-bed psychiatric inpatient unit over a 7-year period, were assessed by using the Staff Observation Aggression scale (SOAS).

RESULTS

Of a total of 3.507 admissions, 409 aggressive episodes were recorded by 160 patients (rate per admission 11.6%). A total of 65 patients exhibited two or more episodes and 95 patients showed a single episode. Repeatedly violent patients had a higher length of stay in the unit, a higher number of previous admissions and a higher number of previous violent episodes. No difference was found in terms of psychiatric diagnosis, socio-demographic variables, type of admission (voluntary versus involuntary), ward overcrowding and characteristics of violent episodes (means, aims and consequence).

CONCLUSIONS

In spite of the low prevalence of violent incidents among Italian psychiatric inpatients, careful monitoring of clinical variables associated with repeated violent episodes may help physicians recognise and prevent violence episodes among acute psychiatric inpatients.

Staff gender ratio and aggression in a forensic psychiatric hospital

Gender balance in acute psychiatric inpatient units remains a contentious issue. In terms of maintaining staff and patient safety, 'balance' is often considered by ensuring there are 'sufficient' male nurses present on each shift. In an ongoing programme of research into aggression, the authors investigated reported incidents of patient aggression and examined the gender ratio on each shift over a 6-month period. Contrary to the popular notion that a particular gender ratio might have some relationship with the likelihood of aggressive incidents, there was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of male staff working on the shifts when there was an aggressive incident compared with the shifts when there was no aggressive incident. Further, when an incident did occur, the severity of the incident bore no relationship with the proportion of male staff working on the shift. Nor did the gender of the shift leader have an impact on the decision to seclude the patient or the likelihood of completing an incident form following an aggressive incident. Staff confidence in managing aggression may be influenced by the presence of male staff. Further, aspects of prevention and management may be influenced by staff gender. However, results suggest there is no evidence that the frequency or severity of aggression is influenced by staff gender ratio.

Disruptive and dangerous behaviour by patients on acute psychiatric wards in three European centres

BACKGROUND

The disturbed behaviour of acute in-patients can have serious consequences, and methods of management are contentious and vary between countries. Little is known about this variation and its relationship to the characteristics of in-patient populations.

AIM

The aim of this study was to compare rates and patterns of disturbed behaviours and containment methods in acute psychiatric wards in three centres in the United Kingdom, Italy and Greece.

METHOD

A retrospective survey of medical and nursing records (n=838) at seven hospitals for the first 2 weeks of patients' admissions was done using a structured data collection tool.

RESULTS

Nearly all types of disruptive behaviour varied by centre, with rates being generally higher in the UK and lowest in Italy. Specific relationships between different behaviours were replicated across all three centres. Ethnic minority patients were more likely to be subject to containment measures in all centres, even when their behaviours did not differ from the majority. Rates of containment method use were only partially related to the frequency of disturbed behaviour.

CONCLUSIONS

More research is required to discover the efficacy of varying containment methods, with a view to minimising their use. Gross international and inter-hospital variation demands large samples rather than single site studies. Clinicians need to reflect upon containment rates that may be, in some places, excessive and incorrectly targeted.

Hostility and violence of acute psychiatric inpatients

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to find out the extent of hostility and violence and the factors that are associated with such hostility and violence in a psychiatric intensive care unit.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of data prospectively collected in a 6-year period.

RESULTS

No hostility was observed in 56.1%, hostility in 40.9%, and violence in 3.0% of the admitted cases. Seclusion was never used. Six cases (2.5 per thousand) required physical restraint. Risk factors associated with violence were younger age, suicidal risk, and diagnosis of schizophrenia. Risk factors associated with hostile and violent behavior were younger age at the onset of the disorder, being single, having no children, lower GAF scores, higher BPRS hostility, SAPS, and CGI scores, lower BPRS anxiety-depression score, higher doses of psychoactive drugs, more frequent use of neuroleptics, diagnosis of mania, personality disorder, substance and alcohol related disorders, no diagnosis of depression.

CONCLUSION

The study confirms the low rate of violence among Italian psychiatric in-patients, the major relevance of clinical rather than socio-demographic factors in respect of aggressive behavior, the possibility of a no seclusion-no physical restraint policy, not associated either with higher rates of hostility or violence or with more severe drug side effects.

Psychiatric nurses' anxiety and cognition in managing psychiatric patients' aggression

This study explored the anxiety, attitudes, and cognition of the need for aggression management among Taiwanese psychiatric nurses caring for psychiatric patients. Data were collected with self-report questionnaires from 180 psychiatric nurses in the acute wards of three large psychiatric centers in Taiwan. Results showed increased threat of cognitive appraisal of aggression, increased trait anxiety, and decreased positive attitudes toward aggression predicted higher levels of state anxiety. There were significantly higher levels of state anxiety among psychiatric nurses when patients exhibited verbal and physical aggression rather than just physical aggression. An important outcome of this study is the added understanding of cognitive appraisal, trait anxiety, and attitudes, that influence the anxiety of psychiatric nurses.

Olanzapine IM or velotab for acutely disturbed/agitated people with suspected serious mental illnesses

BACKGROUND

People presenting with agitated or violent behaviour thought to be due to severe mental illness may require urgent pharmacological tranquillisation. Several preparations of olanzapine, an antipsychotic drug, are now being used for management of such agitation.

OBJECTIVES

To estimate the effects of intramuscular, oral-velotab, or standard oral olanzapine compared with other treatments for controlling aggressive behaviour or agitation thought to be due to severe mental illness.

SEARCH STRATEGY

We searched the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (Issue 1, 2002), The Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register (November 2004) and reference lists. We contacted authors of trials and the manufacturers of olanzapine.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised clinical trials comparing oral-velotab or intramuscular, or standard oral olanzapine to any treatment, for agitated or aggressive people with severe mental illnesses.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

We reliably selected, quality assessed and data extracted studies. For binary outcomes we calculated a fixed effects Risk Ratio (RR) and its 95% Confidence Interval (CI) with a weighted Number Needed to Treat/Harm statistic (NNT/H). For continuous outcomes, we preferred endpoint data to change data and synthesised non-skewed data from valid scales using a weighted mean difference (WMD).

MAIN RESULTS

Four trials compared olanzapine IM with IM placebo (total n=769, 217 allocated to placebo). Fewer people given olanzapine IM had 'no important response' by 2 hours compared with placebo (4 RCTs, n=769, RR 0.49 CI 0.42 to 0.59, NNT 4 CI 3 to 5) and olanzapine IM was as acceptable as placebo (2 RCTs, n=354, RR leaving the study early 0.31 CI 0.06 to 1.55). When compared with placebo, people given olanzapine IM required substantially fewer additional injections following the initial dose (4 RCTs, n=774, RR 0.48 CI 0.40 to 0.58, NNT 4 CI 4 to 5). Olanzapine IM did not seem associated with extrapyramidal effects (4 RCT, n=570, RR experiencing any adverse event requiring anticholinergic medication in first 24 hours 1.27 CI 0.49 to 3.26). Two trials compared olanzapine IM with haloperidol IM (total n=482, 166 allocated to haloperidol). Studies found no differences between olanzapine IM and haloperidol by 2 hours for the outcome of 'no important clinical response' (2 RCTs, n= 482, RR 1.00 CI 0.73 to 1.38) neither was there a difference for needing repeat IM injections (2 RCTs, n=482, RR 0.99 CI 0.71 to 1.38). More people on haloperidol experienced akathisia over the five day oral period compared with olanzapine IM (1 RCT, n=257, RR 0.51 CI 0.32 to 0.80, NNT 6 CI 5 to 15) and fewer people allocated to olanzapine IM required anticholinergic medication by 24 hours compared with those given haloperidol IM (2 RCTs, n= 432, RR 0.20 CI 0.09 to 0.44, NNT 8 CI 7 to 11). Two trials compared olanzapine IM with lorazepam IM (total n=355, 119 allocated to lorazepam). For the outcome of 'no important clinical response' , there was no difference between people given olanzapine IM and those allocated to lorazepam at 2 hours (2 RCTs, n=355, RR 92 CI 0.66 to 1.30) but fewer people allocated to olanzapine IM required additional injections by 24 hours compared with those on lorazepam IM (2 RCTs, n=355, RR 0.68 CI 0.49 to 0.95, NNT 10 CI 6 to 59). People receiving IM olanzapine were less likely to experience any treatment emergent adverse events, than those on lorazepam (1 RCT, n=150, RR at 24 hours 0.62 CI 0.43 to 0.89, NNT 5 CI 4 to 17) and over the same time period there were no clear differences in the use of anticholinergic medication between groups (1 RCT, n=150, RR 1.16 CI 0.38 to 3.58).No studies reported outcomes related to hospital and service use. Nor did any report on issues of satisfaction with care or suicide, self-harm or harm to others. No studies evaluated the oro-dispersable form of olanzapine.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Data relevant to the effects of olanzapine IM are taken from some studies that may not be considered ethical in many places, all are funded by a company with a pecuniary interest in the result. These studies often poorly report outcomes that are difficult to interpret for routine care. Other important outcomes are not recorded at all. Nevertheless, olanzapine IM probably has some value in helping manage acute aggression or agitation, especially where it is necessary to avoid some of the older, better, known treatments. Olanzapine causes fewer movement disorders than haloperidol and more than lorazepam. The value of the oro-dipersable velotab preparation is untested in trials. There is a need for well designed, conducted and reported randomised studies in this area. Such studies are possible and, we argue, should be designed with the patient groups and clinicians in mind. They should report outcomes of relevance to the management of people at this difficult point in their illness.

Fifteen years of research with the Staff Observation Aggression Scale: a review

OBJECTIVE

Research on the prevalence and causes of in-patient aggression has been hindered by the use of different methods for measuring aggression. Since Palmstierna and Wistedt presented the Staff Observation Aggression Scale (SOAS) in 1987, this data collection method has been used in various studies, which may make comparisons more useful.

METHOD

Studies with SOAS aggression data were compiled using MEDLINE, the Internet, and references from SOAS papers.

RESULTS

Reviews of studies on psychometric properties suggest fair to good inter-rater reliability and validity for SOAS assessments. The number of aggressive incidents per patient per year found on acute admissions wards (n = 38) considerably varied, with a range of 0.4-33.2 incidents (mean = 9.3).

CONCLUSION

Although the aggression data included in the present review were obtained in highly comparable ways, substantial differences in aggression rates between wards were still found. Some countries (e.g. the Netherlands) appear to have a relatively high incidence of aggression on acute wards.

Close-observation areas in acute psychiatric units: a literature review

Close-observation areas in Australian inpatient psychiatric units are locked areas usually within an open ward. Despite patient acuity, and the inherent difficulties in this area, little has been written that addresses either the processes or goals of containing patients, the role of nurses, or the skills involved. This paper examines the literature related to close-observation areas and argues that they are highly demanding of expert psychiatric nursing skills. Nurses need to advocate for humane, well-resourced areas, staffed with highly skilled nurses in order to fulfil the obligations of the national nursing and mental health service standards and to reduce the deleterious effects of hospitalization on patients.

Aggression on a psychiatric acute ward: a three-year prospective study

The objectives of this 3-yr. prospective study of aggression on a Norwegian psychiatric acute ward serving a population of 170,000 were to monitor the rate and characteristics of aggressive behaviour, to identify possible interactional and situational precipitants to aggression, and to explore possible differences between aggressive and nonaggressive patients in terms of diagnosis, sex, age, numbers of admissions, admission type, and length of stay. Aggressive incidents were recorded on the Report Form for Aggressive Episodes (REFA). Severity of injuries was scored according to Fottrell's severity scale. Of the total 934 patients admitted, 98 (10.5%) accounted for a total of 981 aggressive episodes. About 55% of the aggressive incidents were assaults that resulted in 85 minor and 21 severe physical injuries. There was no evidence that diagnosis might be used to predict aggression in the clinical setting. Mean rate of admission per patient and length of stay was significantly higher in the aggressive group than in the nonaggressive group. However, several patients in the aggressive group also had admissions without being aggressive. About 13% of the aggressive patients accounted for nearly 50% of the aggressive incidents. There was no significant sex difference by total rate of aggression, but female patients tended to have higher rates of assaults and contributed to significantly more injuries than male patients. Nearly 20% of the aggressive episodes occurred during the first 24 hours of a stay and 54% during the first week. Limit setting, problems in communication, and physical contact, separately or in combinations, preceded nearly 90% of the aggressive episodes.