Compulsory admissions in a London borough: I. Social and clinical features and a follow-up.

This study examines the role that clinical and social factors play in compulsory admissions to hospital in a London borough. 150 patients compulsorily admitted under a section of the Mental Health Act 1959 were compared with 100 informally admitted patients. Significant differences in social-demographic and clinical characteristics are described as well as differences in outcome on follow-up. A long-term unwillingness on the part of the compulsory patients to engage in follow-up services was evident. These differences still held when the compulsory patients were compared with a group of informal patients matched for age, sex and diagnosis. Patients referred by the police and admitted under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act showed those features associated with compulsory admission in general to the most severe degree.