Psychiatric morbidity and consultations among medical and surgical inpatients in a general hospital in Kuwait

Abstract EN

A number of studies have shown high prevalence of psychiatric morbidity among medical and surgical inpatients.

However, few inpatients with psychiatric morbidity receive psychiatric consultation.

The objectives of this study were to measure the prevalence of psychiatric problems requiring psychiatric consultation among general medical and surgical inpatients and the ratio between number of patients having such problems and those referred for psychiatric consultation.

The study included all patients admitted to general medicine and general surgery departments of Farwaniya General Hospital in Kuwait over one month.

These patients were screened for presence / absence of clinically significant depressive and anxiety symptoms, hallucinations, excitement, disorientation, suicidal behavior, and occurrence of psychiatric consultation during their hospital stay.

Patients were assessed using Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, Self Rating Anxiety Scale, and patients’ medical records.

Results showed that of the studied 295 inpatients (193 medical and 102 surgical), 122 (41.4 %) were found to have one or more of the manifestations of psychiatric morbidity.

Clinically significant depressive symptoms were found in 99 patients (35.2 %), anxiety symptoms in 24 patients (8.5 %), disorientation in 14 patients (47 %), excitement in 10 patients (3.4 %), hallucinations in 6 patients (2 %), and suicidal behavior in 8 patients (2.7 %).

Only 13 patients (10.7 % of patients having psychiatric morbidity) were referred for psychiatric consultation.

The study concluded that the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity, especially depression, among general medical and surgical inpatients is high, and a small percentage of inpatients with psychiatric morbidity are referred for psychiatric consultation.