TY - JOUR
T1 - Documentation of violence risk information in psychiatric hospital patient charts
T2 - An empirical examination
AU - Elbogen, Eric B.
AU - Tomkins, Alan J.
AU - Pothuloori, Antara P.
AU - Scalora, Mario J.
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - Studies have identified risk factors that show a strong association with violent behavior in psychiatric populations. Yet, little research has been conducted on the documentation of violence risk information in actual clinical practice, despite the relevance of such documentation to risk assessment liability and to conducting effective risk management. In this study, the documentation of cues of risk for violence were examined in psychiatric settings. Patient charts (n = 283) in four psychiatric settings were reviewed for documentation of violence risk information summarized in the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study. The results revealed that particular patient and institutional variables influenced documentation practices. The presence of personality disorder, for example, predicted greater documentation of cues of violence risk, regardless of clinical setting. These findings have medicolegal implications for risk assessment liability and clinical implications for optimizing risk management in psychiatric practice.
AB - Studies have identified risk factors that show a strong association with violent behavior in psychiatric populations. Yet, little research has been conducted on the documentation of violence risk information in actual clinical practice, despite the relevance of such documentation to risk assessment liability and to conducting effective risk management. In this study, the documentation of cues of risk for violence were examined in psychiatric settings. Patient charts (n = 283) in four psychiatric settings were reviewed for documentation of violence risk information summarized in the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study. The results revealed that particular patient and institutional variables influenced documentation practices. The presence of personality disorder, for example, predicted greater documentation of cues of violence risk, regardless of clinical setting. These findings have medicolegal implications for risk assessment liability and clinical implications for optimizing risk management in psychiatric practice.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 12817844
AN - SCOPUS:0037238683
SN - 1093-6793
VL - 31
SP - 58
EP - 64
JO - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
JF - Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
IS - 1
ER -