Profiles of Patients Admitted to a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit: Secluded with or without Restraint

OBJECTIVE: To identify and describe the profiles of patients admitted to a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) as they relate to seclusion and restraint. METHOD: Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and cluster analysis were performed with data for 114 patients admitted to a PICU from June 8, 2010, to June 7, 2011. RESULTS: The MCA revealed that the presence or absence of seclusion and restraint was the main factor explaining the variance. Admitted patients fall into 5 profiles, 2 of which are significantly associated with seclusion and restraint: young psychotic men and women with bipolar disorder. CONCLUSIONS: The differentiation of patient profiles as they relate to seclusion and restraint should lead to the development of profile-specific interventions before, during, and after seclusion and restraint.