ABSTRACT
Aim
To evaluate the incidence, severity and characteristics of aggressive behaviour in patients hospitalized in acute psychiatric wards, as well as the association between patient ...characteristics and the incidence of recurrent aggressive behaviour.
Methods
A multicentre prospective study included all twelve acute wards in Slovenian psychiatric hospitals with a total capacity of 232 beds. Over five consecutive months, data on the number of treatment episodes involving aggressive behaviour and the number of aggressive incidents, their severity and characteristics were obtained using the Staff Observation Aggression Scale-Revised (SOAS-R). Patient- and event-based incident rates of verbal and physical aggression were calculated. The association between patient characteristics and recurrent aggressive behaviour was analysed. Patient characteristics data were extracted from hospital databases.
Results
3,190 treatment episodes were included during a 5-month period. Aggressive behaviour was observed in 13.4% of treatment episodes, and 922 aggressive incidents were recorded, which resulted in 3.98 incidents per 100 occupied bed days and 9.48 incidents per bed per year. 74.1% of incidents were severe, and more than half of incidents included physical aggression. 75.5% of incidents were directed against medical staff. 5.9% of treatment episodes were involved in multiple aggressive incidents. Compared to patients with single incidents, patients with recurrent aggression had a less frequent main diagnosis of substance use disorders and a longer duration of hospitalization.
Conclusion
Monitoring the frequency and characteristics of aggressive behaviour allows comparisons with other studies and, more importantly, it is necessary for planning and assessing the effectiveness of preventative aggression management strategies.
When we talk about personality disorders, people usually have a very emotional reaction, with pain and unpleasant emotions being the most common. Those who have a relationship with a person who has a ...personality disorder, usually do not know what they are facing, but they do experience feelings of unease, despair, sadness, anger and depression, while doubting their own experience and perception of the world. Family and friends often feel like they are “caught in a relationship web”, which keeps getting more and more tangled, instead of untangling. Personality disorders cause everyone a lot of suffering, anger and disappointment, manifesting in every dimension of the human experience, but the behavior of a person with a personality disorder and the responses from the environment are actually a lot more predictable than you might imagine. In order to present this demanding and little-known topic to the widest range of readers, the handbook uses stories of everyday people to illustrate how their experiences of personality disorders intertwine with stress, mood disorders and problems with addiction. It also presents the process of identifying individual personality disorders and various options of self-help and recovery. The handbook is intended for anyone who is interested in the field of personality disorders, is personally facing mental health problems, or has a relative who is dealing with these issues.
Abstract Introduction Among physiotherapists, work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are the most common health problem. This study aimed to provide evidence for planning evidence-based ...health promotion programmes for ensuring and maintaining adequate physical fitness (PF) to decrease WMSDs among physiotherapists which would have started already during the study. Methods A cross-sectional study involved the participation of a total of 100 physiotherapy students and 62 physiotherapists. Observed variables were prevalence of WMSDs in the last 12 months, lasting >3 days during physiotherapeutic activities and five PF components: body composition, cardiorespiratory and muscle endurance, muscle strength, and flexibility. A chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used as the main analytical methods. Results Prevalence of WMSDs in physiotherapists was 63.9% (the most common locations: lower back, shoulders, neck), while in physiotherapy students it was 46.5% (the most common locations: lower back, neck, upper back) (p=0.031). Among the PF components, the results showed statistically significantly worse flexibility among students compared to physiotherapists (about two thirds of students had poor or very poor results of flexibility testing) (p=0.002) in comparison to physiotherapists. A statistically significant positive association between WMSDs and PF was observed only between knee pain and poor cardiorespiratory endurance (OR=4.03 with 95% CI 1.12-14.58; p=0.033). Conclusion The study showed poor flexibility among students indicating that it is necessary to direct them to perform activities that will increase the extensibility of muscles. The awareness of this problem should be increased. A specific role should be played by staff involved in clinical practice.
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