Triangulation of views from multiple informants has been considered to be essential for coercion studies [ 1, 18] Considering the C-AES questionnaire, all participants agreed on the scope of coverage on admission experience, appropriateness of use of language and length of the questionnaire, although item 2 and 12 appeared redundant.
This value was selected to prevent undue coercion to study participants and to be consistent with the Tanzania Social Action Fund TASAFF), a government-run anti-poverty program which targets "orphans, disabled, elderly, widows/widowers, and those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS," among other vulnerable groups [ 43 ].
The profile of the patient subject to coercion has been studied previously.
There was no coercion upon the study subjects for participation.
Divorce/separation was negatively associated with experienced psychological aggression/sexual coercion in this study.
Women living with HIV should be protected from repeated sexual coercion, which this study shows can persist long after becoming HIV positive.
We have included formal, informal, and perceived coercion in the study, which is mirrored in the discussions in the focus groups.
Measures of coercion in this study are amount of involuntary admissions, forced medications and use of restraints (bed-belts) on Norwegian acute-wards.
We have used subjective as well as professionally assessed measures of coercion since many studies have shown great inconsistencies between perceived coercion and legal status at admission [ 7, 8, 15- 18], and between self-reported and recorded coercive measures during inpatient treatment [ 19- 21].
This could be explained by the qualitative results of this study that coercion came in all forms of personal interaction, including gesture and use of language.
In clinical research, appropriate inducement is considered acceptable if used as an incentive to improve the conduct of a study without coercion or harm to the patient and there is informed consent [ 3].
