Characteristics of homicide perpetrators among Italian forensic hospital inmates.

Objective: To identify distinctive clinical and social features of the psychiatric patients who committed homicide among inmates of Italian forensic hospitals.

Method: Clinical and social characteristics of four cohorts of patients were compared: 64 inmates who committed or attempted homicide (Hs), their 64 matched controls from community services caseloads, 54 inmates who committed other crimes and their 54 matched controls from community services caseload.

Results: When compared with other inmates, patients who committed or attempted homicide showed less severe psychopathology (later onset of mental disorders, later contact with mental health services, lower disability scores) except for higher scores at BPRS "hostility" and "suspiciousness" factors; they also showed better premorbid adjustment (socioeconomic status, employment), and surprisingly better behavioural profile (fewer compulsory admissions, fewer previous criminal records, less substance abuse, less frequently in caseloads of community services).

[Predicting length of stay in Italian Psychiatric Forensic Hospitals: a survival analysis].

Unlabelled: Admission to an Italian Forensic Hospital (OPG) results in formal exit from psychiatric care provided by NHS community based psychiatric services. The length of stay in such facilities is often perceived as a factor negatively affecting the opportunity for reintegration in the community.

Method: Factors predicting length of stay in OPG were investigated by means of a survival analysis carried out on a cohort of 118 inmates of three OPGs (Castiglione delle Stiviere, Reggio Emilia and Montelupo Fiorentino), who represent the whole forensic population from 3 different geographical areas at 30.

Choking incidents among psychiatric patients: retrospective analysis of thirty-one cases from the west Bologna psychiatric wards.

Objective: To determine the rate of choking incidents among the psychiatric population of 4 inpatient facilities, classifying the incidents according to their probable etiology.

Method: All incidents recorded over 18 months were retrospectively analyzed for demographic variables, psychiatric and medical diagnoses, and drug therapy at the time of incident. Where possible, patients underwent psychiatric, neurological, and medical examination.

Reform said or done? The case of Emilia-Romagna within the Italian psychiatric context.

Objective: The authors sought to evaluate how the services required by the Italian Psychiatric Reform of 1978 were implemented in Emilia-Romagna, a region of 4 million inhabitants in Northern Italy.

Method: All psychiatric facilities were monitored from 1978 to 1994 to determine the number and rates of admissions, average duration of stay, average intake, and percent of beds occupied at inpatient facilities as well as the number of patients residing in former mental hospitals and the number and rates of first contacts with mental health community centers.

Results: Three mental hospitals out of nine were closed during the period, and the number of patients who resided in mental hospitals declined from 4,798 to 655.