The right to refuse treatment: What the research reveals

This review encompasses all published and many unpublished studies of refusal of antipsychotic medication by psychiatric inpatients. Many of the extant studies in this area have methodologic flaws in the means employed to gather or analyze data; where relevant to the points being considered, these flaws are noted. The review is broken down into five sections: frequency of refusal, characteristics of medication refusers, reasons for refusal, the natural history of medication refusal, and responses to refusal. A final section summarizes the extent of our knowledge today and points to future areas of investigation.