title: European consultation-liaison services and their user populations: the European Consultation-Liaison Workgroup Collaborative Study.
abstract: The authors identified variations in the characteristics of patients referred to 56 consultation-liaison (C-L) services in 11 European countries. The authors found differences in the types of patients referred to the services, and there were significant differences between countries. The first difference lays in whether services saw patients for deliberate self-harm and for substance abuse. German psychosomatic C-L services saw virtually no such patients, although in other C-L services these patients constituted one-quarter to one-third of the patients referred. The second difference lays in the remaining group of referred patients. This group is best characterized by two dimensions. One describes the severity of psychopathology -- ranging from organic mental conditions to somatization. The other describes the clarity of the physical diagnosis -- ranging from patients referred by surgical wards to those referred by general medicine and neurology wards.
authors.affiliation: European Consultation-Liaison Workgroup for General Hospital Psychiatry and Psychosomatics. fj.huyse@azvu.nl
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Huyse
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lobo
authors.forename: U F
authors.initials: UF
authors.lastname: Malt
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Opmeer
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Creed
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Crespo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Guimarâes-Lopes
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mayou
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Moffaert
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rigatelli
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sakkas
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tienari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014600:Utilization Review