[Quality of involuntary hospital administration in Switzerland].

SUBJECT: This study aims at investigating the formal and content-related quality of medical certificates directing compulsory hospital admissions before the scheduled alteration of the Swiss civil legislation in January 2013. A comparison between physicians with different professional backgrounds concerning certificates and patients was conducted.

METHODS: Retrospective investigation of medical records of involuntary inpatients at the University Hospital of Psychiatry in Zurich during a period of six months (N=489).

RESULTS: Considerable deficits concerning formal and particularly content-related aspects of the certificates were found. Psychiatrists issued certificates of the highest quality followed by emergency physicians, hospital doctors and general practitioners. Patients differed with respect to several sociodemographic and clinical variables.

CONCLUSIONS: The quality of certificates directing involuntary hospital admission has to be improved considering the impact on the individual concerned. The consequences of the new legislation on the quality of the admission practices should be inquired in order to improve professional training on the issue.