Psychiatric Disorders in Geriatric Medical/Surgical Patients

SUMMARYPatients referred for liaison consultation to a Department of Psychiatry for the Elderly were studied over 12 months. One hundred and twelve patients were referred by hospital doctors and most of these were seen on consultations within the hospital. These patients had more physical problems than those referred from the community over that period. The absence of a formal psychiatric diagnosis does not mean that psychiatric skills cannot be useful in managing a patient. Many elderly physically ill people present complex problems and the old age psychiatry service can play a valuable role in providing liaison consultations to other departments within the general hospital.

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

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Liaison referrals to a department of psychiatry for the elderly 1984–5

Benbow

1987

“…These studies indicate that most referrals for psychiatric consultation in geriatric patients (57-74.5%) came from the medicine and neurology services (Folks and Ford, 1975;Popkin and Mackenzie, 1984). Finally, previous studies reported that geriatric inpatients received proportionally fewer consults than did younger patients, and that geriatric women received fewer consults than did geriatric men (Folks and Ford, 1975;Bustamente and Ford, 1981;Rabins et al, 1983;Popkin and Mackenzie, 1984;Rosse et al, 1986: 16-21;Mainprize and Rodin, 1987). Indeed, Folks and Ford (1975) found an inverse relationship between referral rate and age; the older the patient, the less likely that psychiatric consultation would be requested.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

A comparison of psychiatric consultation between geriatric and non‐geriatric medical inpatients

Schellhorn

Barnhill

Raiteri

et al. 2009

“…In geriatric long-stay wards the prevalence of organic and affective mental disorders may be as high as 72% and 40% respectively (Bond et al, 1989). Yet less than 3% are referred for psychiatric opinion (Popkin ef al., 1984;Ruskin, 1985;Poynton, 1988) and the elderly are under represented among referrals to psychiatry in relation to younger patients and bed occupancy (Shevitz et al, 1976;Bustamente and Ford, 1981;Rabins et al, 1983;Popkin et al, 1984;Folks and Ford, 1985;Ruskin, 1985;Mainprize and Rodin, 1987).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The changing pattern of referrals for psychogeriatric consultation in the general hospital: An eight‐year study

Anderson

Philpott

1991

SUMMARYAn eight-year retrospective evaluation of referrals to a psychogeriatric consultation service demonstrated a highly significant linear increase of total referrals with a selective change of case mix that included more depressions and fewer cases of acute confusion or referrals with no psychiatric disorder. This did not occur with referrals from general practice, where case mix remained stable though total referrals also increased. It is suggested that this selective change relates to an educational influence of the specialist consultation service operating within the hospital and represents a desirable change of referral behaviour. The degree of psychiatric morbidity on general hospital wards far exceeds the capacity of a consultation service whose primary objective must be education to enable non-psychiatrists to detect and manage the majority of these disorders without recourse to specialist referral. Research that will further define the elements of the educational process that have greatest impact is needed and offers a new research direction for liaison psychiatry of old age.