Korean J Psychosom Med.  2021 Jun;29(1):34-41. 10.22722/KJPM.2021.29.1.34.

A Study on the Characteristics and Consultation Request Type of Inpatients Referred for Depressive Symptoms

• Yoon N
• Ryu SH
• Ha JH
• Jeon HJ
• Park DH

• KMID: 2524480
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22722/KJPM.2021.29.1.34

Abstract

Objectives
：The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of depressive patients who admitted to general hospital. We examined the clinical characteristics of patients who were referred to the Department of Psychiatry as depressive symptoms, according to the type of consultation request, and comparing ‘with re-consultation’ and ‘without re-consultation’ groups.
Methods
：We performed a retrospective chart review of 4,966 inpatients who were referred to the Department of Psychiatry from August 2005 to December 2011.
Results
：For about 6 years, among the inpatients referred for psychiatric consultation, a total of 647 patients were referred for depressive symptoms, accounting for 13.82% of the total consultations. The average age of depressive patients was 58.6 years, which was higher than the average of 56.4 years of overall patients. Among the depressive patients, 275 patients were included in ‘with re-consultation’ group and there was no statistically significant difference when comparing ‘with re-consultation’ group and ‘without re-consultation’ group. How-ever, there was a difference in the tendency of the two groups in the type of consultation request. ‘With re-consultation’ group was in the order of frequency of consultation type 3-2-1, whereas the ‘without re-consultation’ group was in the order of frequency of consultation type 2-3-1.
Conclusions
：The group of inpatients who were referred for depressive symptoms in general hospital showed the largest proportion of the group of patients referred to the Department of Psychiatry. ‘With re-consultation’ group had a higher rate of re-consultation due to the occurrence of new symptoms after hospitalization compared to ‘without re-consultation’ group. Therefore, doctors in each department and psychiatrists should pay attention to the depressive symptoms of inpatients and actively discuss treatment plans to improve the quality of medical services, identify risk factors, and make efforts to intervene early if necessary.

Keyword

Consultation-liaison psychiatry; Depressive disorder; Consultation type; Psychopathological patient evaluation