background Very little information is available regarding the number of compulsory admissions (ca) from psychiatric wards and a&e wards. Nevertheless, the incidence of such admissions seems to be increasing.
aim To estimate the incidence of ca and identify the underlying diagnoses of patients in the Psychiatric ward and the a&e ward of the Imelda Hospital in Bonheiden over a 10-year period.
method We studied the records of all patients who were compulsorily referred from the psychiatric ward and the a&e ward over the period 2005-2014.
results There was an increase in the number of ca from both the the psychiatric and the a&e ward. The procedure for ca was instituted slightly more often for men than for women. Patients in the a&e ward suffered mainly from psychotic disorders and disorders related to substance abuse. Patients in the psychiatric ward had mainly mood and psychotic disorders.
conclusion The results closely resemble the data from comparable studies. It was very unusual for patients admitted compulsory from the Psychiatric ward to be suffering from substance-related disorders.