This American study set out to look at the use of physical restraint in services for people with learning disabilities.

The researchers looked at data on the incidence and implementation of physical restraint for 448 adults with learning disabilities in community-based day services and shared supported housing.

They found that physical restraint was used exclusively for what was described as self-harming, aggressive, and environmentally disruptive behaviours.

They found that restraint was used for less than 10% of the sample and that 90% of the occurrences of restraint happened as part of a planned and documented intervention procedure.

They found that a number of individuals accounted for the majority of uses of physical restraint.

Descriptive analysis of physical restraint (protective holding) among community living adults with intellectual disability, Luiselli, J et al., in Journal of Intellectual Disabilities 15, 2,  93-99