Physical therapy for reducing arousal and mechanical restraint among in-patients with mania

From 2003 to 2013 the number of patients exposed to mechanical restraint in Danish psychiatric hospitals was increased. Since, a great effort has been done to reduce mechanical restraint.

The aim of this study was to assess whether physical therapy could lower the level of arousal and reduce mechanical restraint among patients with mania.

170 patients admitted with mania at Aarhus University Hospital were offered physical therapy during the study period from 2017 to 2018. Patients reported their experienced level of arousal before and after physical therapy, rating feelings of tension, ability to be at rest, and feelings of irritability/aggression on Visual Analog Scales. Further, the number of manic patients exposed to mechanical restraint in this period was compared with the two previous years and with patients with other diagnoses.

Patients' level of arousal was significantly reduced after receiving physical therapy. Further, the study showed a significant reduction in mechanical restraint among patients with mania from 2015 to 2017.

The results indicate that physical therapy lowers the level of arousal and it is possible that physical therapy contributed to a reduction in mechanical restraint among manic patients. However, the study-design does not allow for confirming this causality.