Violent or Fear-Inducing Behavior Associated With Hospital Admission
A. Michael Rossi Ph.D.1,
Marc Jacobs M.D.1,
Mariann Monteleone R.N.,M.S.2,
Richard Olsen M.D.1,
Robert W. Surber M.S.S.W.1,
Edna L. Winkler R.N.,M.S.2, and
Aline Wommack R.N.,B.S.3
1 The University of California, San Francisco, The Department of Psychiatry of San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California 94110
2 The University of California, San Francisco, The School of Nursing, The Department of Psychiatry of San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California 94110
3 The Department of Psychiatry of San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California 94110
Recent studies indicate that the incidence of violent or fear-inducing behavior among the mentally ill may be higher than once thought. In this study, medical record admission notes for 1,687 psychiatric patients over a four-year period were examined for indications that the patients had engaged in violent orfear-inducing behavior just prior to hospital admission. This and other studies suggest that the frequency of violent or fear-inducing behavior associated with psychiatric admissions may have stabilized in recent years. The authors also found a significantly higher level of hospital readmissions for violent patients than for other patients. As a result, they caution against assuming that the rate of violent behavior among hospital admissions accurately reflects the prevalence of violent behavior among the general population of the mentally ill.
