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

Leslie Lim; Jeremy Heng; Yiong Huak Chan

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14

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

Leslie Lim, Jeremy Heng, Yiong Huak Chan

Published in American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Volume 7, Issue 1)

Received: 3 April 2019 Accepted: 2 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.

Published in	American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14
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), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Psychiatric Referrals, General Hospital, Mental Health Literacy

References

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[6]	Mezey AG, Kellett JM. Reasons against referral to the psychiatrist. Postgrad Med J. 1971; 47 (548): 315–9.
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[14]	Lim L, Goh J, Chan YH, Poon SH. Mental Health Literacy and the Belief in the Supernatural. Open Journal of Psychiatry 2015; 5: 334-341.

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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://article.sciencepublishinggroup.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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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Perceptions of Appropriateness of Psychiatric Referrals by Healthcare Professionals in a General Hospital
AU  - Leslie Lim
AU  - Jeremy Heng
AU  - Yiong Huak Chan
Y1  - 2019/06/12
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14
T2  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JF  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JO  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
SP  - 19
EP  - 23
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-426X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14
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.
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Leslie Lim

Department of Psychiatry, Singapore General Hospital, Republic of Singapore
Jeremy Heng

Department of Psychiatry, Singapore General Hospital, Republic of Singapore
Yiong Huak Chan

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

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Plain Text BibTeX RIS

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

Copy | Download

@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://article.sciencepublishinggroup.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}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Perceptions of Appropriateness of Psychiatric Referrals by Healthcare Professionals in a General Hospital
AU  - Leslie Lim
AU  - Jeremy Heng
AU  - Yiong Huak Chan
Y1  - 2019/06/12
PY  - 2019
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14
T2  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JF  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
JO  - American Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
SP  - 19
EP  - 23
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-426X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajpn.20190701.14
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.
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download