Objective: Australia has inadequate publicly available data regarding the use of involuntary psychiatric care. This study examined the association between patient clinical/demographic factors and involuntary psychiatric admission following initial psychiatric assessment in Royal Darwin Hospital.
Method: Retrospective review of 638 psychiatric assessments followed by covariate analysis of patient variables associated with involuntary psychiatric admission.
Results: Most of the 225 psychiatric admissions were involuntary (92%). Male patients and those with a preferred language other than English had the highest risk of being admitted involuntarily (RR 1.09, χ2 [1] = 3.9, p = .048, and RR 1.11, p = .036, respectively).
Conclusions: Further research regarding the influence of patient demographics and clinical factors on rates of involuntary admissions, particularly for Aboriginal patients, is recommended. The findings prompt discussion on strategies to improve monitoring of involuntary care and barriers to voluntary treatment.
Keywords: Australian Indigenous; involuntary treatment; mental health; mental health act; transcultural psychiatry.