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. 2009 Sep;195(3):257–263. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.059782

Table 3.

Differences between detained participants with and without capacity

Variable Detained capacity (n = 12) Detained incapacity (n = 68) Test statistic P
Treatment refusal,a mean (s.d.) 3.5 (1.9) 2.6 (1.4) t = -2.0 (d.f. = 78) 0.05
Experience of admission, median (IQR)
    Perceived coercionb 4.5 (2-5) 3.5 (2-5) Mann—Whitney z = -0.6 0.54
    Negative pressuresc 2 (1-5) 4 (1-5) Mann—Whitney z = 1.3 0.19
    Voiced 1 (1-2) 1.5 (0-2) Mann—Whitney z = 0.37 0.71
Recent self-harm, n (%)
    No self-harm 8 (66.7) 63 (92.7) Fisher’s exact 0.008
    Minor self-injury 0 3 (4.4)
    Major self-injury or suicide attempt 4 (33.3) 2 (2.9)
Recent violence, n (%)
    No physical aggression 10 (83.3) 41 (60.3) Fisher’s exact 0.35
    Physical aggression without causing injury 2 (16.7) 19 (27.9)
    Physical aggression causing injury 0 8 (11.8)
Symptoms,e mean (s.d) 1.7 (0.4) 2.3 (0.7) t = 3.0 (d.f. = 78) 0.004
Relabelling of symptoms as pathological,f mean (s.d) 7.9 (3.1) 2.5 (2.4) t = -7.0 (d.f. = 72) <0.001

IQR, interquartile range.

a. Treatment refusal: 1 (complete rejection), 2 (partial rejection), 3 (reluctant acceptance), 4 (occasional reluctance), 5 (passive acceptance), 6 (moderate participation), 7 (active participation).

b. Perceived coercion: 1 (no perceived coercion), 5 (maximum perceived coercion).

c. Negative pressure: 1 (no negative pressures), 5 (maximum negative pressures).

d. Voice: 1 (no voice) to 3 (full voice).

e. Symptoms: 1 (none).

f. Relabelling: 0 (no ability to relabel symptoms as pathological) to 12 (full ability to relabel symptoms).