Follow-up of psychiatric comorbidity in the general hospital.
Although appropriate follow-up is an important task in the consultation setting, little attention has been directed to its frequency, or the risk profile for minimal or maximal follow-up. Eight hundred twenty-three patients from 1983 to 1986 were examined at the Mount Sinai Hospital using a computerized psychiatric consultation database that recorded demographic information, reason for referral, DSM-III 5 Axes diagnosis, recommendations and number of follow-up interviews. Forty-two percent of the consultations had three or less (minimum) follow-up visits. The minimum follow-up group were significantly less often referred for depression or diagnosed as depression (p = .01), had fewer psychosocial stressors (Axis III) (p = .03), and recommendations for psychosocial treatment by the psychiatric consultant (p = .0001), but had significantly more personality disorders (Axis II) (p = .04). Sixty-two percent of the consultation patients were correctly classified into the follow-up groups by the variables: 1) marital status; 2) living situation; 3) problem assessed as chronic illness or pain; 4) absence of an Axis I diagnosis or diagnostic uncertainty; and 5) number of recommendations by the consultant.
Strain
J J
JJ
Division of Behavioral Medicine and Consultation Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.
Ginsburg
J
J
Fulop
G
G
Strain
J J
JJ
D002908:Chronic Disease; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D019965:Neurocognitive Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D012803:Sick Role