Inpatient referrals to consultation-liaison psychiatry at a tertiary hospital in South Africa
type: CreativeWork
description: Introduction. Consultation-liaison psychiatry is the subspeciality that provides for the psychiatric assessment and management of patients in a hospital setting, serving as an interface between psychiatry and other medical disciplines. This study aimed to provide an analysis of the Consultation-liaison psychiatry service at Groote Schuur Hospital. It was hypothesised that the hospital has a large burden of psychiatric illness amongst inpatients with unique characteristics and high rates of referrals related to HIV, alcohol and methamphetamine use. Methods. A retrospective review was performed of all inpatients referred for psychiatric consultation from other departments over a period of thirteen months. Patients referred by the emergency medical and surgical departments were excluded from this study, as they are seen by the department of emergency psychiatry. Results. A total of 452 patients (males n=174; females n=278) between the ages of 12 and 90 years were consulted, with the majority of the patients (82%, n=360) belonging to the age group of 18 to 59 years (mean age of 37 years). The referral rate to Consultation-liaison psychiatry was 0.95% (when combined with emergency psychiatry referrals the combined referral rate was 4.7%). Most referrals were from the department of medicine (56%, n=252), with the highest number of medical subspeciality referrals from neurology (6%, n=29). Request of a general review (69%) of current psychiatric symptoms (87%) occurred most frequently. The most common symptoms noted by the referring non-psychiatrist were mood symptoms (n=159; 36%), followed by suicidal behaviour (23%, n=102) and behavioural problems (21%, n=94). The mean number of psychiatric diagnoses following assessment was one (SD 1; 0:5), and most patients were assigned a definitive diagnosis (78%, n=342). Alcohol use disorder was diagnosed in 9% (n=41). Methamphetamine use was identified in 5% (n=22) of patients, with the majority being diagnosed with methamphetamine…
abstract: Introduction. Consultation-liaison psychiatry is the subspeciality that provides for the psychiatric assessment and management of patients in a hospital setting, serving as an interface between psychiatry and other medical disciplines. This study aimed to provide an analysis of the Consultation-liaison psychiatry service at Groote Schuur Hospital. It was hypothesised that the hospital has a large burden of psychiatric illness amongst inpatients with unique characteristics and high rates of referrals related to HIV, alcohol and methamphetamine use. Methods. A retrospective review was performed of all inpatients referred for psychiatric consultation from other departments over a period of thirteen months. Patients referred by the emergency medical and surgical departments were excluded from this study, as they are seen by the department of emergency psychiatry. Results. A total of 452 patients (males n=174; females n=278) between the ages of 12 and 90 years were consulted, with the majority of the patients (82%, n=360) belonging to the age group of 18 to 59 years (mean age of 37 years). The referral rate to Consultation-liaison psychiatry was 0.95% (when combined with emergency psychiatry referrals the combined referral rate was 4.7%). Most referrals were from the department of medicine (56%, n=252), with the highest number of medical subspeciality referrals from neurology (6%, n=29). Request of a general review (69%) of current psychiatric symptoms (87%) occurred most frequently. The most common symptoms noted by the referring non-psychiatrist were mood symptoms (n=159; 36%), followed by suicidal behaviour (23%, n=102) and behavioural problems (21%, n=94). The mean number of psychiatric diagnoses following assessment was one (SD 1; 0:5), and most patients were assigned a definitive diagnosis (78%, n=342). Alcohol use disorder was diagnosed in 9% (n=41). Methamphetamine use was identified in 5% (n=22) of patients, with the majority being diagnosed with methamphetamine…
author: Torline, John Ross
language: eng
date published: 2016
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:16Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/23045