Factors associated with the seclusion of psychiatric patients

Records of adult psychiatric patients in a university hospital revealed 116 patients had been secluded on 263 occasions during one year. Seclusion was more frequent in winter and spring, and during the late night and early morning, but there was no relationship between seclusion and lunar cycle, week day, weather, menstrual cycle, or month of birth. More males than females were secluded, but females had more multiple seclusions. A control group matched for ward, sex, and within ten years of age consisted of 108 patients. The most common diagnoses for both groups were the major affective disorders and schizophrenia.