Freedom from restraint: consequences of reducing physical restraints in the management of the elderly.

Physical restraint is commonly used in the management of elderly people in North American hospitals and nursing homes. Between December 1981 and March 1982 the Department of Geriatric Medicine, St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg, changed its practice regarding the use of such restraints. In the fiscal year 1980-81 the rate of application of physical restraints was 52 per 1000 patient-days and the frequency of falls 7 per 1000 patient-days. By 1986-87 the figures were 0.3 and 8.7 per 1000 patient-days respectively; the increase in falls was not clinically significant. During the study period there was a 40% reduction in the use of chemical restraints (psychotropic drugs other than hypnotic and antidepressant agents). Here we record how this change in practice occurred and persisted.