"This study examined the outcome of a cohort of 72 patients from a high secure psychiatric hospital (HSPH) who were admitted to and discharged from the Edenfield Centre over a 16-year period. The sample was predominately male and mentally ill and the majority was subject to restriction orders," scientists in Manchester, the United Kingdom report (see also Psychiatry).

"Compared with two similar studies focusing specifically on the outcomes of HSPH patients in medium security, our sample had fewer women and the group had more extensive criminal and psychiatric histories. None of our cohort was discharged to the community via district services or transferred to other hospitals. We found that the Edenfield Centre had relatively higher rates of readmissions to the HSPH and a slightly higher reconviction rate than similar studies focusing solely on the outcomes of HSPH patients. In line with previous research, those detained under the legal category of psychopathic disorder were more likely to be reconvicted following discharge to the community than those detained under mental illness," wrote R. Blattner and colleagues.

The researchers concluded: "Further large scale studies are needed to compare the outcomes of HSPH patients discharged through medium secure services that operate parallel or integrated aftercare service models."

Blattner and colleagues published their study in Medicine Science and the Law (Outcome of high security patients admitted to a medium secure unit: the Edenfield Centre study. Medicine Science and the Law, 2009;49(4):247-256).

For more information, contact R. Blattner, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Dept. of Psychiatry, Rawnsley Bldg, Oxford Rd., Manchester M13 9WL, Lancs, UK.

Publisher contact information for the journal Medicine Science and the Law is: Barnsbury Publ, London, PO Box 37389, London, N1 0WE, England.