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Prevalence of aggression in hospitalized patients with schizophrenia in C hina: A meta‐analysis
Author(s) -
Zhou JianSong,
Zhong BaoLiang,
Xiang YuTao,
Chen Qiongni,
Cao XiaoLan,
Correll Christoph U.,
Ungvari Gabor S.,
Chiu Helen F.K.,
Lai Kelly Y.C.,
Wang XiaoPing
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
asia‐pacific psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.654
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1758-5872
pISSN - 1758-5864
DOI - 10.1111/appy.12209
Subject(s) - aggression , psychiatry , hostility , schizophrenia (object oriented programming) , meta analysis , medicine , clinical psychology , psychiatric hospital , psychology
Aggression is a major concern in psychiatric inpatient care. Variations in study designs, settings, populations and data collection methods render comparisons of the prevalence of aggressive behavior in high‐risk settings difficult. We proposed to estimate the pooled prevalence of aggression among inpatients with schizophrenia in C hina. Methods Reports on aggressive behaviour involving physical contact or risks of interpersonal violence, in schizophrenia in C hinese general psychiatric wards were retrieved by using computer‐assisted searches and manual searches of the reference lists of the relevant literature. Statistical analyses were conducted using the C omprehensive M eta‐ A nalysis V 2 software. Potential sources of heterogeneity were analyzed with C ochrane's Q analysis. Results The search yielded 19 eligible studies involving a total of 3,941 schizophrenia patients. The prevalence of aggressive behavior in psychiatric wards ranged between 15.3% and 53.2%. The pooled prevalence of aggression was 35.4% (95% CI : 29.7%, 41.4%). The most commonly reported significant risk factors for aggression were positive psychotic symptoms: hostility or suspiciousness, 78.9% (15 studies); delusions, 63.2% (12 studies); disorganized behavior, 26.3% (5 studies); and auditory hallucinations, 10.5% (2 studies); together with: past history of aggression, 42.1% (8 studies); and involuntary admission, 10.5% (2 studies). Conclusions Aggressive behaviour is common in C hinese inpatients with schizophrenia. The prevalence figures indicate the need to identify reliable clinical and illness predictors for aggression in inpatient psychiatric wards and to test investigations aimed at reducing aggressive episodes and their adverse outcomes.