Correlates of Involuntary Admission: Findings from an Italian Inpatient Psychiatric Unit

Involuntary admission is challenging in terms of providing the most effective but least restrictive care in accordance with the country's regulations. A better understanding of correlates of voluntary versus involuntary admission legal status is crucial to improve clinical decision-making and effectiveness of the overall mental health care system. We collected chart-review data pertaining to 848 patients, discharged between June 2011 and June 2014, from an Italian inpatient psychiatric unit. Diverse sociodemographic and clinical variables were collected. Bivariate analyses and binary logistic regression were performed to examine correlates of involuntary admission. Bivariate analyses showed that involuntary status was related to: the reason for hospitalization, not being on psychiatric medications at admission, and being admitted from another inpatient ward (in particular, from the emergency department). The final regression model identified four main variables independently associated with legal status: being admitted for psychotic features, suicidal behavior, or impulsive behavior, and not being on medication at admission (Nagelkerke pseudo R =0.15, p