Two-year trends in the use of seclusion and restraint among psychiatrically hospitalized youths.

Objectives: This study examined characteristics associated with the use of seclusion and restraint among 442 psychiatrically hospitalized youths and sought to quantify changing trends in the rates of these modalities of treatment over time after the 1999 implementation of federal regulations and an institutional performance improvement program.

Methods: Demographic and clinical data related to all 5,929 incidents of seclusion and restraint that occurred during 2000 and 2001 at a child and adolescent state psychiatric hospital were analyzed.

Results: The two-year prevalence of use of seclusion was 61 percent and of restraint was 49 percent.