Hypnosis on a consultation-liaison service

Hypnosis can play a valuable role in meeting the goals of a psychiatric consultation-liaison service, including patient care, teaching, and research activities, and the strengthening of links between psychiatry and medicine. The rationale for, establishment of, and use of hypnotic intervention on a consultationliaison service are discussed and illustrated by case histories.     

Use of projective testing on a consultation-liaison service

Projective psychological testing is a valuable but underrated tool in consultation-liaison psychiatry. By reviewing psychiatric consultations with supporting psychological testing done over a 12-month period at the Beth Israel Hospital, the authors pinpointed clinical problems where projective testing was particularly helpful. The authors found suicidality, depression, and regression to be diagnostic dilemmas in which use of the Rorschach and TAT was decisive in the crisis setting of some consultations. The psychodynamic information offered by these tests guided both proper medication selection and verbal interventions as well as facilitated medical education. 4 cases were selected to illustrate the relevance of projective testing to consultation-liaison work.     

Accuracy of referring psychiatric diagnosis on a consultation-liaison service

The authors determined the accuracy of the initial psychiatric diagnosis of primary medical providers requesting psychiatric consultation in a general medical inpatient setting. A retrospective review of 346 consecutive psychiatric consultations was conducted in which the initial diagnostic impression of primary medical providers was compared with the final psychiatric diagnosis. Accuracy rates for cognitive disorders, substance use disorders, and depressive disorders were 100%, 88.9%, and 53.6%, respectively. Thus, initial diagnoses of a cognitive or substance use disorder by primary medical providers are likely to be accurate, whereas an initial diagnosis of a depressive disorder will be inaccurate in approximately half of the cases.     

A clinical consultation-liaison experience in a rehabilitation service

Consultation-liaison psychiatry, which seeks to make a clinical and cultural contribution to medical problems, is the subject of considerable debate at a theoretical level. Moreover, at least in Italy, it is far removed from total actualization in practical terms. On the basis of a clinical experience, the authors underscore how a fully articulated and complete consultation and liaison program can facilitate a third form of collaboration provided by the psychiatrist, i.e. on-going training. The authors define this as the process of focusing in on the casework and psychotherapeutic competencies of the medical staff.     

The biopsychosocial approach: Clinical examples from a consultation-liaison service

In this second of three articles exploring Engel's biopsychosocial model, five case histories illustrate how psychological factors, sometimes related to organic trauma or illness, may precipitate psychiatric conditions. The patients’ disorders, and their management by a consultation-liaison team, demonstrate the interaction of biologic, psychological, and social systems in assessment and treatment of disease.     

The biopsychosocial approach: Clinical examples from a consultation-liaison service

Engel's biopsychosocial model has been used as a framework for identifying, understanding, treating, and preventing iatrogenic precipitation or exacerbation of psychiatric disorders. This final article in a three-part series presents five case histories in which social factors were primary, and illustrates various consultative interventions.     

The biopsychosocial approach: Clinical examples from a consultation-liaison service Part 1

In this first of three articles exploring Engel's biopsychosocial model for illness, five case histories demonstrate how biomedical factors in particular may precipitate or exacerbate psychiatric disturbance. The patients’ conditions, managed by members of a consultation-liaison team, highlight the interaction of biologic, psychological, and social systems in assessment of disease as well as in intervention.     

Integration of DSM-III and ICD-8 to be used in a consultation-liaison psychiatric service. Preliminary experiences

In 1983 a total of 405 patients received psychiatric supervision in somatic departments in the general hospital. At this supervision, these patients were registered by means of a five-axial diagnostic coding according to the DMS III principle, and this was combined with a quantitative global assessment of the severity of the condition. Reliability testing was undertaken by five supervising physicians with a total of 15 patients. The total number of supervisions constituted one supervision per somatic bed per annum. Women were overrepresented, and medical departments made the greatest use of psychiatric supervision. Reactive conditions dominated parallel with a high relative incidence of alcohol-related conditions. In patients with diagnoses of psychoses, only slight to moderate psychiatric symptoms were encountered. This held true also for personality deviations. 50% of the patients had experienced significant psychosocial stress, but 10% of these were diagnosed as having non-reactive psychoses, 52% of the patients had moderate to pronounced disturbances of social function. Half of the patients supervised in this manner could be investigated or treated in the referring departments. Approximately half of the patients in whom referral to private psychiatric specialists was made did not keep these appointments. Reliability testing in the material shows the employability of the diagnostic armamentarium. All in all, the investigation suggests that extension of the liaison psychiatric service in somatic departments would result in a relative increase in the number of patients who could be treated in the referring department and an increase in the number of psychiatric conditions diagnosed. Establishment of a psychiatric outpatient clinic in the somatic environment appears to be indicated.     

某三级甲等综合医院住院患者精神科会诊3年资料分析

目的:了解某三级甲等综合医院精神/心理服务需求的特点。方法:汇总某三甲综合医院2006年7月1日-2009年6月30日期间所有经心理医学科会诊的患者共2082例次,分析会诊率、会诊科室、会诊原因、精神科诊断及随诊情况。结果:3年来会诊率由1.01%升至1.48%,随诊率为15.77%。重症监护病房会诊率最高(4.77%),特需科室随诊比例最高(27.04%)。占1%以上的邀请会诊原因有10类,其中"目前情绪症状"最多,占28.4%。精神科诊断以"神经症性、应激性障碍及焦虑状态"为主,占44.2%,诊断为躯体形式障碍及医学不能解释的症状(Medical Unexplained symptoms,MUS)的患者随诊比例最高,达26.6%。结论:综合医院对精神/心理服务的需求全面,精神专科应提供全面深入、特点突出的会诊联络服务。     

Characteristics of obstetrical inpatients referred to a consultation-liaison psychiatry service in a tertiary-level university hospital

A review of psychiatric consult notes of 96 obstetric inpatients referred to a Consultation-Liaison (C-L) psychiatry service in a tertiary-level university general hospital was carried out in order to compare the characteristics of such a service in a North American setting with similar services in other parts of the world. Data extracted from consult notes included: reason for referral, current diagnosis (DSM-IV-R), psychiatric history, obstetrical history, recommended treatment approaches, current psychotropic medications, current gestational age or number of days postpartum, patient age, and partnership status. In addition, obstetrical referrals were calculated as a percentage of hospital-wide referrals to C-L psychiatry. The most prominent findings include: (1) a high C-L psychiatry referral rate from obstetrics as a percentage of total C-L referrals within the study hospital; (2) past psychiatric history alone as a prevalent reason for referral; (3) adverse reproductive event (past and/or current) as a common reason for referral. These findings differ markedly in certain ways from comparable studies and may reflect both the hospital’s large high-risk pregnancy service that represents an at-risk group for mental health issues, and the focus on educational collaboration with obstetrical staff regarding risk factors for, and consequences of, perinatal mental illness. Inpatient perinatal C-L psychiatric services require creative approaches to the accurate identification and treatment of women at risk for antenatal and postpartum mental illness due to psychiatric history and/or reproductive crises.     

The role of the nurse on a consultation-liaison team

The authors report on the role and functions of a nurse-consultant on an expanding psychiatric consultation-liaison service. One hundred consecutive requests for intervention by a nurse were compared with 100 consecutive requests for psychiatric intervention. Psychiatrists saw 3½ times as many patients on critical care units as did the nurse-consultant. Patient withdrawal and depression were the prime reasons stated for requesting consultation with the nurse, but 24% of the cases seen by the nurse focused on issues of death and dying or on the need for staff or family support, areas in which formal psychiatric intervention was not routinely requested.