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Biomedical subjects

M Zardecka

Publications and source records attributed to M Zardecka.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

The use of physical restraints in Polish psychiatric hospitals in 1989 and 1996.

The use of physical restraints in 11 locked psychiatric wards in Warsaw, Poland, was examined in 1989 and 1996 to determine whether the implementation of the Mental Health Act in 1995 and other political transformations changed this psychiatric practice. All episodes of restraint were documented during a one-month period in both years. Significantly more episodes of restraint occurred in 1996, but the average duration of each episode decreased, the number of episodes per patient fell, and the proportion of episodes due to patient aggression increased. Findings indicate that use of restraint was less arbitrary in 1996, which is likely attributable to the replacement of local institutional rules by national regulations controlling the use of restraint in psychiatric practice.

Behavior Control↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The use of the restraint in Warsaw psychiatric hospitals before and after the introduction of the Mental Health Act].

The goal of the research was evaluation how, and to what degree the use of restraint in psychiatric hospitals was changed between 1989 and 1996. Two month observations of the 11 psychiatric wards of Warsaw psychiatric hospitals were conducted. Researchers used special questionnaire to account for all of the cases of restraint. The first research of this sort was performed in 1989, the second--in 1996. Each of the observed wards was described in terms of its conditions, equipment, personnel, the local customs and population of patients (T. Stańczak's questionnaire was used here); global level of pathology was described with the shortened version of Kellam's form. The most important difference between the characteristics of using restraint in 1996 and 1989 is the average time of remaining in restraint: it became distinctly shorter. The percentage of restraint grew after the act was issued but less patients were restrained. More often than in 1989 aggressive behaviour was the reason for restraining patients. The research clearly states that the practice of restraint was evidently modified and the freedom of its use limited. The main causes are probably the introduction of the Mental Health Act and the changes in the observed wards.

Adult↗