Transfers to psychiatry through the consultation-liaison psychiatry service: 11 years of experience.
BACKGROUND
There are only a few reports on issues related to patient transfer from medical and surgical departments to the psychiatric ward by the consultation-liaison psychiatry service, although it is a common practice. Here, we present a study assessing the factors that influence such transfers.


METHODS
We examined the demographic and clinical backgrounds of a group of patients transferred from internal medicine and surgery to the psychiatric ward over an 11-year period. A comparison was made of this data with data obtained from a group of non-transferred patients, also seen by the same consultation-liaison psychiatry service.


RESULTS
According to our findings, the typical transferred patient, either female or male, is single, divorced or widowed, lives alone, belongs to a lower socioeconomic class, presents initially with (on the whole) a disturbed and disruptive behaviour, has had a recent suicide attempt with persistent suicidal ideas, suffers from a mood disorder (mainly depressive and dysthymic disorders), has a prior psychiatric history as well as a prior psychiatric inpatient treatment, and a positive diagnosis on axis II of the five axis system used for mental health diagnosis.


CONCLUSIONS
The transfer of a patient to the psychiatric ward is a decision depending on multiple factors. Medical diagnoses do not seem to play a major role in the transfer to the psychiatric ward. From the psychiatric diagnosis, depressive and dysthymic disorders are the most common in the transferred population, whilst the transfer is influenced by social factors regarding the patient, the patient's behaviour, the conditions in the ward she/he is treated in and any recent occurrence(s) that increase the anxiety of the staff.
Christodoulou
Christos
C
Second Department of Psychiatry, University of Athens Medical School, 'Attikon' General Hospital, 1 Rimini Street, 124 62, Athens, Greece.|Department of Psychiatry, General Hospital of Athens 'G. Gennimatas', 154 Mesogion Avenue, 115 27, Athens, Greece.
Fineti
Katerina
K
Second Department of Psychiatry, University of Athens Medical School, 'Attikon' General Hospital, 1 Rimini Street, 124 62, Athens, Greece.
Douzenis
Athanasios
A
Second Department of Psychiatry, University of Athens Medical School, 'Attikon' General Hospital, 1 Rimini Street, 124 62, Athens, Greece.
Moussas
George
G
Second Department of Psychiatry, University of Athens Medical School, 'Attikon' General Hospital, 1 Rimini Street, 124 62, Athens, Greece.
Michopoulos
Ioannis
I
Second Department of Psychiatry, University of Athens Medical School, 'Attikon' General Hospital, 1 Rimini Street, 124 62, Athens, Greece.
Lykouras
Lefteris
L
Second Department of Psychiatry, University of Athens Medical School, 'Attikon' General Hospital, 1 Rimini Street, 124 62, Athens, Greece.