Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026

Handwriting Analysis Indicates Spontaneous Dyskinesias in Neuroleptic Naïve Adolescents at High Risk for Psychosis
Published on: November 21, 2013
Patients leaving against medical advice: an inpatient psychiatric hospital-based study
Aalia Akhtar Hayat1, Muhammad Munir Ahmed, Fareed Aslam Minhas
1Institute of Psychiatry, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi. aaliah_hayat@hotmail.com
Objective:
To determine the frequency of patients leaving against medical advice (LAMA) in an inpatient psychiatric facility in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
Study Design:
Descriptive cross-sectional study.
Place And Duration Of Study:
Institute of Psychiatry, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi, from August 2010 to February 2011.
Methodology:
Patients who got admitted during study period irrespective of duration of illness and mode of admission were recruited through non-probability consecutive sampling and followed till discharge to determine their mode of leaving hospital. A thirteen-item proforma was developed and information was obtained on demographic, socioeconomic, patient related and disease related variables. Descriptive statistics were calculated on SPSS 14.
Results:
The total number (n) of participants was 246. Among the participants, 96 (39%) left against medical advice (LAMA) whereas 150 (61%) left on regular discharge on physician's advice. Frequency of patients who left against medical advice was found to be more in males (63.5%), younger age groups (21 - 30 years), lesser educated (more than half were under matric) and with the ICD-10 diagnosis of substance abuse (23.9%). About half of patients who LAMA had a prior history of psychiatric illness and a significant number (37.5%) had a history of previous psychiatric admission.
Conclusion:
Leaving against medical advice is a frequent problem in psychiatric inpatients and is a matter of great concern for the treating doctors.
Related Concept Videos
Drug Therapy
Antianxiety Medications
Psychosis: Goals of Pharmacotherapy
Psychosurgery
Historical Development of Psychosurgery
In the 1930s, Portuguese neurologist Antonio Egas Moniz introduced a surgical procedure designed...
Psychosis and Antipsychotic Drugs: Overview
Bioavailability Study Design: Healthy Subjects Versus Patients
Obedience
