Caregivers' appraisals of patients' involuntary hospital treatment: European multicentre study.

BACKGROUND Mental health policies emphasise that caregivers' views of involuntary psychiatric treatment should be taken into account. However, there is little evidence on how caregivers view such treatment. AIMS To explore caregivers' satisfaction with the involuntary hospital treatment of patients and what factors are associated with caregivers' appraisals of treatment. METHOD A multicentre prospective study was carried out in eight European countries. Involuntarily admitted patients and their caregivers rated their appraisal of treatment using the Client Assessment of Treatment Scale 1 month after admission. RESULTS A total of 336 patients and their caregivers participated. Caregivers' appraisals of treatment were positive (mean of 8.5 on a scale from 0 to 10) and moderately correlated with patients' views. More positive caregivers' views were associated with greater patients' symptom improvement. CONCLUSIONS Caregivers' appraisals of involuntary in-patient treatment are rather favourable. Their correlation with patients' symptom improvement may underline their relevance in clinical practice.