Consultation-liaison psychiatry in a general hospital

BACKGROUND: At least one half of all patients who admitted to general hospitals, suffer from psychiatric comorbidities. Management of mental disorders in these patients, significantly, improves the course and outcome of medical diseases. The aim of this survey was to answer the following questions: 1) what is the rate of diagnosable psychiatric symptoms among medical and surgical inpatients? and 2) what proportion of them undergo psychiatric consultation?
 METHODS: Three hundred and ninety two patients admitted to medical and surgical wards of Alzahra hospital (Isfahan) from January 2005 until March 2005 were evaluated by the revised form of psychiatric symptoms checklist (SCL-90-R). The total referral records were also maintained and compared with the data of morbidity.
 RESULTS: One hundred and fifty six (42.7%) of the evaluated subjects had psychiatric co-morbidities. The most prevalent psychiatric symptoms determined in this group were depression, somatization and anxiety. Only 84 (3%) of these patients had undergone psychiatric consultation.
 CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that many of the patients, who are admitted to general hospitals, may have psychiatric co-morbidities but only a very small percentage of them receive appropriate mental cares.
 KEY WORDS: Consultation-liaison psychiatry, general hospital, mental disorder