scholarly journals Informal psychiatric patients requesting discharge

1994 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-211
Author(s):  
Robin McGilp ◽  
Brian Kidd ◽  
Cameron Stark ◽  
Tom Henderson

A retrospective investigation of case-notes compared 54 incidents of informal psychiatric in-patients being detained in hospital on an emergency basis with 66 incidents of discharge against medical advice (AMA). The characteristics of the two groups were compared. Detained patients were more likely to have been detained previously, to be suffering from a psychotic illness, and to have threats of violence or self-harm mentioned in their case-notes. AMA patients were more likely to have a history of substance abuse but were no more likely than the detained group to have been discharged AMA in the past. The results suggest that psychiatrists in this hospital are using current legislation on detention appropriately.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malak AL Sharif ◽  
Aeshah Alatawi ◽  
Abdulhadi M. Alqahtani ◽  
Mohammed Alufi ◽  
Faisal Alghamdi

Abstract Background:DAMA is defined as any instance when a patient wants to leave the hospital against the managing physician's decision.This study aimed to identify the most common factors that influence patients to decide to choose DAMA.Results: Between March and April 2021, 510 responses were collected from participants and included in the analysis. Most of the study participants (31.4%) were over the age of 54. Our findings showed that 12.5% of our participants have had taken discharge against medical advice in the past.Conclusion: The long wait time to be seen by a physician was the major factor that forced patients to leave the emergency department against medical advice.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Asseel Albayati ◽  
Steven Douedi ◽  
Abbas Alshami ◽  
Mohammad A. Hossain ◽  
Shuvendu Sen ◽  
...  

Background: A patient decides to leave the hospital against medical advice. Is this an erratic eccentric behavior of the patient, or a gap in the quality of care provided by the hospital? With a significant and increasing prevalence of up to 1–2% of all hospital admissions, leaving against medical advice affects both the patient and the healthcare provider. We hereby explore this persistent problem in the healthcare system. We searched Medline and PubMed within the last 10 years, using the keywords “discharge against medical advice,” “DAMA,” “leave against medical advice,” and “AMA.” We retrospectively reviewed 49 articles in our project. Ishikawa fishbone root cause analysis (RCA) was employed to explore reasons for leaving against medical advice (AMA). This report presents the results of the RCA and highlights the consequences of discharge against medical advice (DAMA). In addition, the article explores preventive strategies, as well as interventions to ameliorate leaving AMA.


Seizure ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 84-90
Author(s):  
Parul Agarwal ◽  
Huaqing Xi ◽  
Nathalie Jette ◽  
Jung-yi Lin ◽  
Churl-Su Kwon ◽  
...  

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosó Duñó ◽  
Esther Pousa ◽  
Jordi Sans ◽  
Carles Tolosa ◽  
Ada Ruiz

1983 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 202-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.S. Phillips ◽  
H. Ali

Hospital treatment staff are constantly faced with the problem of psychiatric patients who discharge themselves against medical advice before their treatment is completed. A total of 50 patients who signed themselves out of the 9th floor service of the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, over a two year period, were analyzed. When compared with a random sample of patients who remained for the duration of their treatment, the authors found the A MA patients to have the following characteristics: The patient is likely to be a young male, admitted as an emergency, remain in hospital for three days or less and have a diagnosis of personality disorder or schizophrenia. The authors conclude with a number of recommendations to assist in dealing with the problem.


2009 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 104-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamlesh Patel ◽  
Rachel Upthegrove

Aims and MethodSuicide in schizophrenia remains frequent. One of the best predictors of suicide, previous self-harm, is increasing in young people. the aim of this case-note review was to investigate the frequency of a history of self-harm for individuals presenting to psychiatric services with a first episode of psychosis in our local area and study their demographic characteristics.ResultsA history of self-harm was found in 32% of the cohort. the predominant method of self-harm was self-laceration. In univariate analyses, age and gender were significant predictors of self-harming behaviour.Clinical ImplicationsThe rate of self-harm among those with first-episode psychosis is high. Efforts to reduce the rate of completed suicide in psychotic illness need to focus on this risk, which often predates contact with psychiatric services. This emphasises again the need for early detection and intervention in psychotic illness.


Author(s):  
Sanaz Rouhbakhsh Halvaei ◽  
Hojat Sheikh Motahar Vahedi ◽  
Ayat Ahmadi ◽  
Maryam Sadat Mousavi ◽  
Alireza Parsapoor ◽  
...  

Discharge against medical advice (DAMA) is a common problem in the health-care system. It imposes risks to both patients and medical staff and could be the subject of ethical deliberation. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 on 400 patients who were discharged against medical advice from the emergency ward of Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Patients’ information was collected using clinical records and telephone calls. The collected data were analyzed using STATA software. DAMA rate was 12% in the emergency department of Shariati Hospital. Male gender was found to be a risk factor for DAMA (OR: 1.90; CI (95%): 1.44 - 2.52; P < 0.0001). In addition, younger patients were more likely to leave hospital against medical advice (p-value: 0.04). The more common reasons for DAMA were feeling better, long delay in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and the hectic ambience of the emergency ward. Patients’ self-discharge is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that is affected by patients’ characteristics, medical conditions and hospital circumstances. It raises some ethical concerns, mainly due to a conflict between patients’ autonomy and beneficence. It is helpful for the medical staff to create an effective relationship with patients who are at higher risk of DAMA, in order to increase their compliance and prevent the consequences of leaving hospital against medical advice.


1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
H S Goyea

Sixty-four cases of discharge against medical advice (DAMA) from 3 paediatric units in the University of Benin Teaching Hospital within a period of 18 months were analysed. The incidence was highest among the very young, even when they were still very ill. Financial problems accounted for 65.6% of the cases. Other reasons included difficulties related to the siblings (9.4%), the wish to try traditional methods (7.8%), family opposition (1.6%) and distance from the hospital (4.1%). It is recommended that greater attention be given to preventive health care, and placing the cost of hospital care within the reach of the poor. Improved communication is also recommended as a way of helping parents seek alternatives to DAMA.


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