Relatives' involvement in the delivery and evaluation of psychiatric treatments has been recently emphasized by mental health policies. However, few data are available so far on relationship between relatives' evaluation of psychiatric treatments and patients' outcomes.

A multicentre prospective study was carried out in eight European countries, as part of the “European evaluation of coercion in psychiatry and harmonization of best clinical practice (EUNOMIA)” study. in each centre, all legally involuntarily admitted patients and voluntarily admitted patients who reported high levels of coercion (i.e. a score higher than 3 at the Mac Arthur Scale for Perceived Coercion) were asked to participate in the study. Patients were evaluated at the admission and at three months. Relatives were assessed one month after admission.

Five hundred and 78 patients and their relatives were recruited. Relatives' views of patients' hospital treatment were globally positive. in the multivariate linear regression analysis, relatives' views were associated with better objective patients' outcomes at three months from admission, when controlling for patients' and relatives' age and gender, diagnosis and country.

Relatives of inpatients assess treatment rather positively and their appraisal is associated with clinical outcomes. Further studies should evaluate what are the best strategies to involve relatives in evaluation of mental health care.