Effects of a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Mental Disorders

• Registration Number: NCT00184119
• Lead Sponsor: Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Brief Summary

The purpose of the study is to compare the effects of using or not using a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in an acute psychiatric department.

Detailed Description

The main aim of the study is to compare the effects of using or not using a Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) in an acute psychiatric department.The acute ward of Østmarka psychiatric department, St. Olavs Hospital has a PICU separated from the rest of the ward. The PICU is separated with a locked door. Under two different conditions at different times all patients evaluated to be in need of PICU were admitted to the PICU. In the first condition the doors inside the PICU and between the rest of the acute ward and PICU were closed or locked. In the second condition the doors inside the PICU and the door between the PICU and the rest of the acute ward were either removed or held permanently open. In the second condition the patients thus were admitted to a PICU unit not using PICU principles.

The patients were evaluated with different rating scales at admittance, day three and at discharge from PICU.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2001-10
• Study First Submitted: 2005-09-09
• Study First Submitted QC: 2005-09-15
• Study First Posted: 2005-09-16
• Primary Completion: 2010-06
• Study Completion: 2010-06
• Status Verified: 2024-11
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-11-18
• Last Update Posted: 2024-11-20

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 118

Inclusion Criteria

• All patients admitted to Østmarka psychiatric department, St. Olavs Hospital in need of a PICU.

Exclusion Criteria

• Patients with dementia or mental retardation to an extensive degree.
• Patients not speaking Norwegian or English.

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Length of stay in Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)	3 days
Symptoms of psychopathology	3 days	assessed by Broset Violence Checklist (BVC), a six-item observer-rated scale scoring behaviours. Higher scores predict imminent violence in psychiatric inpatients
Violent or threatening incidents	3 days	recorded with the Staff Observation Aggression Scale-Revised (SOAS-R),

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Therapeutic steps and nurses' interventions	3 days	coded daily on a 23-item checklist

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Østmarka Psychiatric Department, St. Olavs Hospital; 🇳🇴 Trondheim, Norway