Compulsory hospitalisation in mental health care in Østfold in 2000 and 2010.

BACKGROUND For many years, it has been an objective of national public health policy in Norway to reduce the number of compulsory hospitalisations under the Norwegian Mental Health Care Act. Uncertain data quality and inadequate reporting have made it difficult to obtain reliable measurements of hospitalisation trends. We have examined changes in psychiatric emergency admissions and compulsory hospitalisations under the Mental Health Care Act between 2000 and 2010 in the county of Østfold. MATERIAL AND METHOD The material on which the study is based was gathered during two three-month periods – from 1 September to 30 November in the years 2000 and 2010 respectively. We compared emergency admissions in accordance with the national care quality indicator for compulsory hospitalisation in mental health care and examined whether there were changes in the diagnostic composition. RESULTS The number of emergency admissions per 1,000 population in Østfold increased from a rate of 7.05 in 2000 to 8.86 in 2010 (p < 0.001). There was no significant change in the rate of compulsory hospitalisation during this period, being 2.48 and 2.24 per 1,000 population, respectively. There was a sharp increase in the number of admissions for mental disorders related to alcohol and illicit drug abuse. INTERPRETATION The study material showed that there was a significant increase in psychiatric emergency admissions between 2000 and 2010. The rate of compulsory hospitalisation, measured among the population over the age of 18, remained unchanged during the period. The Norwegian Board of Health Supervision's care quality indicator for compulsory hospitalisation in mental health care can contribute to providing information and a basis of comparison for the use of compulsory hospitalisation, provided that the data submitted is quality assured. The highest increase was seen in the group of emergency admissions for mental disorders related to alcohol and illicit drug abuse as the principal diagnosis.