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Related Experiment Videos

Absconding: a literature review.

L Bowers1, M Jarrett, N Clark

  • 1St Bartholomew School of Nursing and Midwifery, City University, London, UK.

Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
|March 6, 1999
PubMed
Summary

Patient absconding from inpatient care is a high-risk event. Absconders are often young males with schizophrenia, and interventions show limited conclusive evidence.

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Area of Science:

  • Psychiatry
  • Mental Health Services Research

Background:

  • Absconding from inpatient care presents significant risks of harm to patients and others.
  • Existing research on patient absconding is fragmented, with varied definitions and methodologies hindering comparative analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To synthesize findings from a broad range of research on patient absconding from inpatient psychiatric care.
  • To identify characteristics of patients who abscond and common methods and reasons for absconding.

Main Methods:

  • Comprehensive literature review of studies on patient absconding over many years.
  • Analysis of reported patient demographics, absconding circumstances, and elicited reasons.

Main Results:

  • Absconders are disproportionately young, male, from disadvantaged backgrounds, and diagnosed with schizophrenia compared to general inpatient admissions.
  • Approximately half of absconding incidents occur during authorized temporary leave from the ward.
  • A wide array of patient-reported and researcher-suggested reasons for absconding exist.

Conclusions:

  • Despite the high-risk nature of absconding, evidence-based interventions remain poorly evaluated.
  • Further research is needed to develop and assess effective strategies to prevent patient absconding.

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