The incidence and economic impact of aggression in closed long-stay psychiatric wards.

The current study found a high rate of aggression incidents in closed long-stay psychiatric wards. Reports of aggression on these types of wards are scarce. Nevertheless, aggression seems to have a severe impact on invested time and related costs, which suggests a need for aggression-prevention and de-escalating programs.Key pointsAggression incidents are highly prevalent and are accompanied by high costs.The effect of aggression incidents on the workload for staff members is high, especially for nursing staff.Studies across countries on the incidence and the costs of aggression among psychiatric inpatients are needed to help model the effects of (new) strategies for aggression reduction.