The decision making process including assessment of ethical principles in the commitment of police-referred, psychiatric patients

to identify determinants for psychiatric commitment and analyse physicians' assessment of ethical principles concerning interested groups on the decision to commit a psychiatric patient. a prospective physician survey concerning commitment of patients brought by police to a psychiatric emergency unit. Two hundred consecutive, police-conveyed patients. psychiatric commitment. psychiatric symptoms, diagnosis, risk for suicide/violence, ethical benefits/costs, physicians' gender, age and education. 56% of the patients were committed. Commitment correlated with a low score on the function assessment scale, patients' negative/ambivalent attitude towards hospitalisation, and diagnosis of psychosis or organic mental disorder. More specialists believed hospitalisation to fulfil patients' autonomy and benefit patients, families, and the community. dangerousness was often not identified as an indication for commitment. Assessments of commitment's ethical benefits for a patient compared to costs for violation of the patient's autonomy often gave more weight to the former.