The relationship between command hallucinations and violence

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship betwe en command hallucinations and violent behavior: Methods: One hundred and th ree psychiatric inpatients completed measures of command hallucinations, ot her psychotic symptoms, violent behavior, and social desirability response biases. Results: Thirty percent of the patients reported having had command hallucinations to harm others during the last year, and 22 percent of the patients reported they complied with such commands. Logistic regression ana lyses suggested that patients who experienced command hallucinations to har m others were more than twice as likely to be violent, even when the analys is controlled for demographic variables, history of substance abuse, and so cial desirability response biases. Conclusions: The results support the cli nical utility of asking about command hallucinations when assessing the ris k of violence in patients with major mental disorders.