[Does modification of documentation result in a reduction of medication to involuntary patients?]

The effects of modification of documentation on the administration of psychotropic medication to involuntary patients in hospital were investigated.

The charts of 414 inpatients on the acute-ward were reviewed two months before and two months after a new form for documentation of rationales for medication administration to involuntary patients was instituted. A follow-up was carried out for a two-month period a year later.

The percentage of patients who received medication involuntarily, 70% of whom were schizophrenic, fell by over half, from 12% to 5%, after additional standardized documentation for the use of such medications was instituted. The number of medications administered to involuntary patients fell from 80 to 21, a reduction of 74%. The effects were stable over the course of one year.

Modification of documentation seems to reduce the use of medication with involuntary patients.