title: Mental disorders in medical inpatients and the association to severity of illness, self-rated physical disability, and health perception.
abstract: In a study of 294 consecutive medical inpatients, the authors assessed a subsample of 157 patients for psychiatric diagnoses using an extensive semistructured interview, Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry (SCAN). Patients rated their health and physical functioning, and medical consultants assessed them for chronic and life-threatening diseases. A life-threatening condition increased odds for having a psychiatric diagnosis by 3.1 times (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.03-9.1), while a chronic medical disease had no such impact (OR=1.1; 95% CI: 0.5-2.3). In women, mental disorders were strongly associated with self-rated disability (OR=6.7; 95% CI: 1.6-27.8) and self-rated health (OR=9.4; 95% CI: 2.7-32.4). This association was absent in men (OR(disability)=0.7; 95% CI: 0.2-2.7; OR(health)=1.6; 95% CI: 0.6-4.7). Analyses included adjustment for age and gender.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatric Demography, Psychiatric Hospital in Aarhus, Risskov, Denmark.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frydenberg
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Oxhøj
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Søndergaard
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eriksen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile