Involuntary hospitalization of mentally ill patients

Abstract

Introduction: Involuntary commitment is a legal procedure used to force an individual to receive inpatient treatment for a mental disorder against his/her will.

Purpose: Evaluation of the factors influencing the involuntary hospitalization of patients with mental illness.

Methodology: The research belongs to the quantitative method, where the analysis of the protocols of involuntarily hospitalized patients in the psychiatric clinic in Pristina was applied.

Results: 4172 patients were hospitalized in the last 5 years, of them 1092 (26.2%) hospitalized involuntarily. 63.1% of involuntarily hospitalized patients were brought by family members. They had 12,278 days of stay, with clinical characteristics diagnosed with schizophrenia (73.9%). Treatment was based on intermittent (27%) and general (73%) observation of patients.

Conclusions: To develop instrumentsof objective assessment that reflect the true levels of external and internal symptomatology and be used in emergency services to better determine the need for hospitalization. Funds should be provided so that medical services can be provided at a level for involuntarily hospitalized patients, avoiding problems in their mental and physical health, through the creation of a mobile medical team (doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist, nurse, and other experts).