Impact of involuntary out-patient commitment on reducing hospital services: 2-year follow-up.

Aims and method To evaluate whether involuntary out-patient commitment (OPC) in patients with severe mental disorder reduces their use of hospital services. This is a retrospective case-control study comparing a group of patients on OPC (n = 75) and a control group (n = 75) which was composed of patients whose sociodemographic variables and clinical characteristics were similar to those of the OPC group. Each control case is paired with an OPC case, so the control case must have an involuntary admission in the month that the index OPC case admission occurred. Emergency room visits, admissions and average length of hospital stay over a 2-year follow-up after the initiation of OPC were compared. Results No statistically significant evidence was found in the use of mental healthcare services between the two groups. Different reasons for admission found between the groups limit similarity when comparing the two. Clinical implications The findings cast doubt over the effectiveness of this legal measure to reduce emergency visits, the number of admissions and the length of stay in the hospital.

Involuntary outpatient treatment (iot) for severe mental patients: current situation in Spain.

Involuntary Outpatient Treatment (IOT) expects to improve treatment compliance and, therefore, prevent the impairment of patients with severe mental illness, as well as the risk for them and others. Besides IOT introduction defenders and opponent's states, scientific literature offers contradictory results. Legislative changes have been taken in the vast majority of our neighbouring countries in order to regulate IOT application. There is no legal regulation in Spain; however, OIT application is possible in certain Spanish cities. This article reviews IOT in Spain and surrounding countries.

Situacion en España del tratamiento ambulatorio involuntario (TAI) para enfermos mentales graves / Involuntary outpatient treatment (IOT) for severe mental patients: current situation in Spain

El tratamiento ambulatorio involuntario (TAI) pretende mejorar la adherencia al tratamiento y, por tanto, prevenirlas recaídas y el deterioro de las personas con enfermedad mental grave. Además de las posiciones manifestadas a favor y en contra con la introducción del TAI, los estudios publicados en la literatura médica obtienen también resultados contradictorios. En la mayoría de los países de nuestro entorno, se han producido cambios legislativos que regulan su aplicación. En la actualidad no existe en España una normativa legal, sin embargo, es posible su aplicación en el ámbito local de algunas ciudades españolas. En este artículo se pretende hacer una revisión del TAI en los países de nuestro entorno y España (AU)

Involuntary Outpatient Treatment (IOT) expects to improve treatment compliance and, therefore, prevent the impairment of patients with severe mental illness, as well as the risk for them and others. Besides IOT introduction defenders and opponent’s states, scientific literature offers contradictory results. Legislative changes have been taken in the vast majority of our neighbouring countries in order to regulate IOT application. There is no legal regulation in Spain; however, OIT application is possible in certain Spanish cities. This article reviews IOT in Spain and surrounding countries (AU)