EPA-0796 – Coerced medication in the emergency psychiatry: Do changes in the legislation have an influence on aggressive behaviour of the patients and other coercive measures?

Introduction The use of coercion in emergency psychiatry is discussed controversially. Objectives Concerning the constraint of coerced medication there were changes of the German Civil Code in 2012 (XII ZB 99/12) and the Saxon Law on Aid and Accommodation for Mental Diseases in early 2013 (2 BvR 228/12) Aims Against the background of the issue ’Coercive Treatment’, we aimed on monitoring the effects of these amendments on our 18-bedded closed psychiatric ward. Methods We performed a pre-post-comparison (pre: 2010, post: 1st half of 2013) by using descriptive and test statistics. Results Socio-demographic patient data and performance data remained stable. Regarding the main diagnoses [ICD 10] F19* (pre11.0%, post 22.0%; p Conclusions The reduction of administered benzodiazepines and antipsychotics seems to correlate with an increase of aggressive behaviour and alternative use of other coercive measures. Further research and a social discussion on this issue are required.