Patients' Satisfaction and Self-Rated Improvement Following Coercive Interventions

While the use of coercion, such as involuntary medication and physical restraints, is widespread in psychiatric treatment, little is known about the outcomes of the use of these interventions. Nineteen patients who had been involuntarily medicated, physically restrained, or secluded from other patients, were matched to 19 controls. Outcome variables were overall satisfaction with treatment, self-rated improvement, recommendation of treatment to others, satisfaction with information about treatment, and degree of influence over own treatment. Data were analysed with paired t tests. There were no statistically significant differences between the patients who had been subjected to the coercive interventions and their controls. Overall satisfaction with treatment was poor for both groups, while self-rated improvement was rated as neither poor nor good. It is possible that other factors, such as the nature of the disorder and the duration of treatment, are of greater importance than the use of coercive interventions with regard to patients' satisfaction.