title: A survey of psychiatrists' attitudes towards the physical examination.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies have shown that most psychiatric patients do not receive a thorough physical examination (PE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Psychiatrists working with Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust were surveyed to determine factors influencing the performance of PEs, including their attitudes towards conducting them.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Responses from 118/192 (61%) psychiatrists showed that most (96%) believe that the PE is important. The majority (72%) indicated that their PE skills had diminished since working in psychiatry and this was reported more by senior psychiatrists compared to junior trainees (85 versus 40%). 77% considered that a patient's mental state should have a bearing on the type of PE the psychiatrist performs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Likely reasons for poor performance of PEs include: shortage of time and equipment, challenges associated with agitated or uncooperative patients, and possibly a degree of skill atrophy, especially in senior psychiatrists. Further research is needed to investigate if strategies addressing these factors would improve the standard of PEs on psychiatric patients.
authors.affiliation: a The Evington Centre, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust , Leicester , UK .
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: b Department of Health Sciences , University of Leicester , Leicester , UK , and.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baillon
authors.affiliation: c The Bradgate Unit , Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust , Leicester , UK.
authors.forename: Janet
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bruce
authors.affiliation: a The Evington Centre, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust , Leicester , UK .|b Department of Health Sciences , University of Leicester , Leicester , UK , and.
authors.forename: Latha
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Velayudhan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010808:Physical Examination / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Attitudes; clinical skills; physical examination; physical health; psychiatrists; psychiatry