[Hidden diseases: tuberculosis in a woman with a severe mental illness].
Patients with severe mental illness often have only limited access to health care for physical symptoms. They have difficulty in organising their thoughts and articulating their requests for medical help; in addition, they often have a reduced perception of stimuli like physical pain. There may also be a language barrier and sometimes a cultural barrier. The case that we present demonstrates that these are not separate causes but they are interrelated in a complex manner. Screening for a latent disease such as tuberculosis reduces the risk of a delayed diagnosis stemming from the patient's inability to articulate a request for medical help. The physical symptoms of patients with severe mental illness can only be reliably interpreted when there is close cooperation between physicians and psychiatrists.
F M
FM
van Hasselt
Y
Y
Coehorst
L
L
Verheijen-Breemhaar
B
B
Feenstra
A J M
AJ
Loonen
D057210:Delayed Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012559:Schizophrenia; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014195:Travel; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000175:diagnosis*