Demographic Variables as Predictors of Seclusion and Restraints for Adult Psychiatric Inpatients

In psychiatric settings, the use of seclusion or restraints can be traumatizing for patients. Patients often experience these interventions as inhumane and humiliating, and such interventions can have physical and mental adverse effects and in some cases can be fatal. This study examined the role of demographic, clinical, and hospital variables in predicting seclusion and/or restraint episodes in adult psychiatric inpatients. A total of 395 patients were included in the study. A binary logistic regression research design was used to examine the relationship of demographic variables, clinical variables, and hospital variables on the likelihood of being placed in seclusion or restraints. The results yielded age as a significant predictor for patients being restrained. Also, individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder were less likely to experience a seclusion and/or restraint event than patients diagnosed with depressive disorder or within the schizophrenia spectrum. In addition, findings suggest that adult psychiatric inpatients that experienced restrained within the 1st month of admission, during the weekday and during the 1st shift.