A Study of Psychiatric Referrals in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Liaison psychiatry is the one of the lynchpin between psychiatry and other specialties. The incidence of mental disorders in hospitalized physically ill patients has been found to range from 5.0 to 50.0.(4) The objective was to study about the pattern of psychiatric referrals in our hospital which a tertiary care hospital in Tamil Nadu . All possible consecutive cases referred from different outpatient and inpatient departments during the period from December 2012 to May 2013 were included in the study. The patients were evaluated and diagnosis given as per ICD 10 criteria. A total of 257 psychiatric referrals were sent. Maximum number of referrals was from Medicine Department followed by Surgery. The most prevalent ICD-10 diagnosis was Neurotic Stress related and Somatoform Disorders. The reasons for consultation include unexplained physical symptoms, attempted suicide, altered behaviour and sensorium, presence of psychiatric illness. Consultation Psychiatry through the referral system is only a tip of the iceberg of the actual potential of psychiatric involvement in general hospital practice. Further research is necessary to find ways to realise the actual potential of consultation-liaison psychiatry in a tertiary hospital setup.