Effect of Statute Changes on Admission Trends at a New Jersey State Psychiatric Hospital

The impact of changes in New Jersey civil commitment laws on admission patterns at a New Jersey state psychiatric hospital was studied using an interrupted time series design. The target years were 1965, 1988, 1994, and 1998, years when significant changes in the commitment law took effect. The data studied were the total number of admissions per month. There were no significant changes in admission trends at any of the target dates. Possible reasons for these findings are discussed