Physical assaults in a psychiatric unit of a general hospital.

The authors collected data concerning assaults, assaultive patients, and victims in a psychiatric unit during a 12-month period and compared them with data from a control group of patients. Thirty-seven assaults by 25 patients were recorded. Fourteen of the victims were patients and 23 were members of staff. The assaultive group contained a significantly higher proportion of schizophrenic patients than did the control group and significantly larger numbers of patients from lower socioeconomic classes, patients admitted involuntarily under a section of the Mental Health Act, and patients with a history of assaults.