Temporal regularities in physical control at a state psychiatric hospital

Physical control (mechanical restraint and locked seclusion) of psychiatric patients has received increasing scrutiny, and better understanding of the timing of physical control would allow for more informed choices about its implementation. This study examined temporal regularities in the use of physical control at a general psychiatric hospital over a period of 8.6 years. As hypothesized, physical control was not randomly distributed through time but instead showed positive autocorrelation; yearly, weekly, and daily cycles; and higher frequency at patients' smoking, meal, and medication times. These results are discussed in the context of physical control research, theory, and policy.