[Use of coercive measures in Norwegian psychiatric institutions]

This paper addresses the use of coercive measures in Norwegian mental health care in recent years. The use of mechanical restraint and seclusion was recorded for the first six months of 1986 and 1988. During the first six months of 1988, 203 patients had been restrained mechanically for a total of 10,767 hours, while 73 patients required seclusion for a total of 3,914 hours during the same period. The results showed that there had been no increase in the total number of hours when coercion had been applied over the actual period, but a significant increase was found in the number of patients who had been subjected to coercive measures. These results are discussed in relation to the number of available beds, staff ratio and patient turnover in Norwegian mental health institutions.