title: Differential aspects of consultation-liaison psychiatry in a Saudi hospital. I: referral pattern and clinical indices.
abstract: Consultation-liaison psychiatry has emerged as an important sub-specialty in the general hospital setting during recent years as a result of psychiatric acute wards moving into these hospitals. This has inspired the need for better structured research to establish its relevance and effectiveness. We, therefore, carried out a prospective cohort study at King Fahad General Hospital. We report the interaction of sociodemographic, clinical and diagnostic factors, time lag of referral and diagnostic ability of referring physicians. A total of 206 patients were referred over a period of 6 months. Sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic skills of the referring doctors were found to be generally poor, particularly for anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, King Saud University Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. alhamad@ksu.edu.sa
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Alhamad
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Al-Sawaf
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Osman
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006302:Health Services Research; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D015274:Interdepartmental Relations; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education / Q000592:standards; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors