American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience

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Perceptions of Appropriateness of Psychiatric Referrals by Healthcare Professionals in a General Hospital

Received: 03 April 2019    Accepted: 02 June 2019    Published: 12 June 2019
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Abstract

Objective: We assessed hospital staff recognition of certain psychiatric symptoms and whether they considered it appropriate to refer patients with these symptoms to the consultation-liaison psychiatric service. Methods: An online questionnaire was sent to all healthcare professionals working in the hospital. We presented several vignettes describing the typical symptoms and behaviors of a case of schizophrenia, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, delirium and dementia. Staff were asked whether they considered it appropriate for a patient with these symptoms to be referred to the psychiatrist. Results: Doctors were significantly more likely to endorse psychiatric referrals for depression (p = 0.023) and schizophrenia (p < 0.001). Although there appeared to be non- significant responses for the remaining conditions, within group analyses suggested that the more experienced staff and foreign born and foreign trained staff were more likely to endorse psychiatric referrals for anxiety, dementia and delirium. Conclusions: Knowledge deficits exist among hospital staff in our hospital. This highlights the possibility of non- detection and non-referral of certain psychiatric comorbidities among patients receiving medical care.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14
Published in American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Volume 7, Issue 1, March 2019)
Page(s) 19-23
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Psychiatric Referrals, General Hospital, Mental Health Literacy

References
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[3] Lappalainen-Lehto R, Seppa K, Nordback I. Cutting down substance abuse– present state and visions among surgeons and nurses. Addict Behav. 2005; 30 (5): 1013–8.
[4] Chen KY, Evans R and Sarah Larkins S. BMC Psychiatry 2016 16: 390 DOI 10.1186/s12888-016-1100-6.
[5] Su JA, Tsai CS, Hung TH, Chou SY. Change in accuracy of recognizing psychiatric disorders by non-psychiatric physicians: five-year data from a psychiatric consultation-liaison service. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2011; 65 (7): 618–23.
[6] Mezey AG, Kellett JM. Reasons against referral to the psychiatrist. Postgrad Med J. 1971; 47 (548): 315–9.
[7] Thom R, Silbersweig DA, Boland RJ. Major depressive disorder in medical illness: A review of assessment, prevalence, and treatment options. Psychosom Med. 2019 Feb 1. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000678. [Epub ahead of print].
[8] Jorm, AF, Korten A E, Jacomb P A, Christensen, H., Rodgers, B. et al (1997a). Mental health literacy: a survey of the public’s ability to recognise mental disorders and their beliefs about the effectiveness of treatment. Med J Aust. 1997a; 166: 182-186.
[9] Yeo SG, Parker G, Mahendran R, Jorm AF, Yap HL, Lee C, et al. Mental health literacy survey of psychiatrically and generally trained nurses employed in a Singapore psychiatric hospital. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2001; 7: 414–421.
[10] Seow LSE, Chua BY, Xie H, Wang J, Ong HL, Abdin E, et al. Correct recognition and continuum belief of mental disorders in a nursing student population. BMC Psychiatry 2017; 17: 289 DOI 10.1186/s12888-017-1447-3.
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Author Information
  • Department of Psychiatry, Singapore General Hospital, Republic of Singapore

  • Department of Psychiatry, Singapore General Hospital, Republic of Singapore

  • Biostatistics Unit, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore

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  • APA Style

    Leslie Lim, Jeremy Heng, Yiong Huak Chan. (2019). Perceptions of Appropriateness of Psychiatric Referrals by Healthcare Professionals in a General Hospital. American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, 7(1), 19-23. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14

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    ACS Style

    Leslie Lim; Jeremy Heng; Yiong Huak Chan. Perceptions of Appropriateness of Psychiatric Referrals by Healthcare Professionals in a General Hospital. Am. J. Psychiatry Neurosci. 2019, 7(1), 19-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14

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    AMA Style

    Leslie Lim, Jeremy Heng, Yiong Huak Chan. Perceptions of Appropriateness of Psychiatric Referrals by Healthcare Professionals in a General Hospital. Am J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2019;7(1):19-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14,
      author = {Leslie Lim and Jeremy Heng and Yiong Huak Chan},
      title = {Perceptions of Appropriateness of Psychiatric Referrals by Healthcare Professionals in a General Hospital},
      journal = {American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience},
      volume = {7},
      number = {1},
      pages = {19-23},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajpn.20190701.14},
      abstract = {Objective: We assessed hospital staff recognition of certain psychiatric symptoms and whether they considered it appropriate to refer patients with these symptoms to the consultation-liaison psychiatric service. Methods: An online questionnaire was sent to all healthcare professionals working in the hospital. We presented several vignettes describing the typical symptoms and behaviors of a case of schizophrenia, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, delirium and dementia. Staff were asked whether they considered it appropriate for a patient with these symptoms to be referred to the psychiatrist. Results: Doctors were significantly more likely to endorse psychiatric referrals for depression (p = 0.023) and schizophrenia (p < 0.001). Although there appeared to be non- significant responses for the remaining conditions, within group analyses suggested that the more experienced staff and foreign born and foreign trained staff were more likely to endorse psychiatric referrals for anxiety, dementia and delirium. Conclusions: Knowledge deficits exist among hospital staff in our hospital. This highlights the possibility of non- detection and non-referral of certain psychiatric comorbidities among patients receiving medical care.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    AU  - Leslie Lim
    AU  - Jeremy Heng
    AU  - Yiong Huak Chan
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    JF  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
    JO  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
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    AB  - Objective: We assessed hospital staff recognition of certain psychiatric symptoms and whether they considered it appropriate to refer patients with these symptoms to the consultation-liaison psychiatric service. Methods: An online questionnaire was sent to all healthcare professionals working in the hospital. We presented several vignettes describing the typical symptoms and behaviors of a case of schizophrenia, major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, delirium and dementia. Staff were asked whether they considered it appropriate for a patient with these symptoms to be referred to the psychiatrist. Results: Doctors were significantly more likely to endorse psychiatric referrals for depression (p = 0.023) and schizophrenia (p < 0.001). Although there appeared to be non- significant responses for the remaining conditions, within group analyses suggested that the more experienced staff and foreign born and foreign trained staff were more likely to endorse psychiatric referrals for anxiety, dementia and delirium. Conclusions: Knowledge deficits exist among hospital staff in our hospital. This highlights the possibility of non- detection and non-referral of certain psychiatric comorbidities among patients receiving medical care.
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