Detentions in a mental handicap hospital: A ten-year retrospective study

The case notes of 56 people with mental handicap, detained in hospital between 1980 and 1990, were reviewed. There were 67 episodes of detention. Sixty per cent of the people detained were less than 30 years of age. Seventy per cent had mild mental handicap. Forty-three per cent were mentally ill, and forty-three per cent were detained because of mental 'subnormality' or 'impairment' as defined in the Mental Health Acts 1959 and 1983. The number of new detentions remained approximately constant over the 10-year period, but the number of patients detained at any one time declined due to a decrease in the duration of detention. The proportion of detained patients with a classification of mental impairment declined during the study period. People with a classification of mental impairment were detained for longer periods than those with mental illness