Comparison of involuntary hospitalization rates

Background Civil commitment rates show substantial variation between different countries and over time. Legislation, professionals' ethics and attitudes, socio-demographic variation, and psychiatric services have been suggested as reasons for this. International variations in procedures and registration of coercion might affect reliability and validity of the data used, complicating international comparison. Objective: To discuss reasons for international variation of commitment rates, to expose periods of deprivation of liberty introduced during psychiatric admissions, classified formally as voluntary or involuntary, and to evaluate the impact of these results on the public statistics of commitment rates in the Nordic countries.