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Need Of Physical And Chemical Restraints: Experiences At Inpatient Psychiatric Ward In A Tertiary Care Hospital In Karachi, Pakistan, Humera Saeed, M. Shameel Khan, Syeda Maheen Batool, Asma Akbar Ladak, Nadia Karim, Rabeeka Aftab

Department of Psychiatry

In psychiatry, agitated / aggressive patients are often treated with de-escalation techniques. If this does not work, physical or chemical restrains are required; but in the event of resistance, seclusion is applied. We report the findings of baseline study of experiences of physical and chemical restraints in a tertiary care hospital in Karachi, where 104 files were evaluated retrospectively. The mean age of patients was 32.5 ±14.3 years with 54.8% men, while the average length of stay was 11.5 ±9.3 days. Agitation, violent behaviour, and aggression were the most common indications for restraints. In total, 94.5% of patients had both …