A qualitative study of orthognathic patients' perceptions of referral to a mental health professional: Part 2--a questionnaire study.
OBJECTIVE
There is evidence to suggest that clinicians are reluctant to refer orthognathic patients for psychological evaluation due to fear of the patient reacting badly to the suggestion. The aim of this study was to assess orthognathic patients' perceptions of referral to a psychiatrist/psychologist using a previously developed patient-centred questionnaire.


METHODS
The study was divided into two parts. Stage 1 (presented previously) involved developing the questionnaire using qualitative methodology and stage 2 involved distribution of the questionnaire to 63 orthognathic patients. This paper describes the findings of stage 2.


METHODS
UCLH Foundation Trust.


RESULTS
The majority of patients viewed referral to a psychiatrist/psychologist positively (95.2%), the main benefits being having someone neutral to talk to who could explain and prepare them for treatment. Patients said they would prefer the referral to be made by the clinician they are most familiar with and to see the psychiatrist/psychologist on a one-to-one basis (79.4%) in an environment they are familiar with. The main perceived drawback of seeing a psychiatrist was the inconvenience of an additional visit.


CONCLUSIONS
Fear of the patient reacting badly to being referred to a mental health professional appears to be unfounded in this study of patients from a large teaching hospital and should not prevent clinicians referring patients whom they think would benefit from this.
Ryan
Fiona Siobhan
FS
Eastman Dental Hospital, London, UK. fionaryan25@hotmail.com
Shute
Justin
J
Cunningham
Susan J
SJ
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003142:Communication; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D009970:Orthodontics; D009971:Orthodontics, Corrective / Q000523:psychology*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D011570:Psychiatry; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult