Roles and Responsibilities: Theoretical Issues in the Definition of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry

Consultation-liaison psychiatry has grown rapidly and become a subspecialty of psychiatry in the past decade. The author reviews the history of this field at the interface of psychiatry and medicine, offers its definition, and discusses current trends pertaining to the organization of liaison services and to the teaching and research activities of liaison psychiatrists. He concludes that a liaison service has become a recognized division of a general hospital psychiatric unit for the provision of psychiatric consultation and teaching to the nonpsychiatric departments of the hospital. Consultation-liaison psychiatry (or liaison psychiatry for short) has emerged in the past decade as a subspecialty of psychiatry, one concerned with mental health problems among medical and surgical patients. Diagnosis, treatment, study and prevention of psychiatric disorders in those patients constitute the proper domain of liaison psychiatry. I will review in this article the major current trends in this field as they pertain to matters of organization, education, and research. A brief historical note and a definition of liaison psychiatry will introduce my review.

Download Full-text

Diagnostic Agreement between Physicians and a Consultation–Liaison Psychiatry Team at a General Hospital: An Exploratory Study across 20 Years of Referrals

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18020749 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 749

Author(s):

Mattia Marchi ◽

Federica Maria Magarini ◽

Giorgio Mattei ◽

Luca Pingani ◽

Maria Moscara ◽

...

Keyword(s):

General Hospital ◽

Depressive Disorders ◽

Psychiatric Morbidity ◽

Clinical Signs ◽

Kappa Statistics ◽

Comorbid Depression ◽

Liaison Psychiatry ◽

Consultation Liaison Psychiatry ◽

Psychiatric Conditions ◽

Diagnostic Concordance

Consultation–liaison psychiatry (CLP) manages psychiatric care for patients admitted to a general hospital (GH) for somatic reasons. We evaluated patterns in psychiatric morbidity, reasons for referral and diagnostic concordance between referring doctors and CL psychiatrists. Referrals over the course of 20 years (2000–2019) made by the CLP Service at Modena GH (Italy) were retrospectively analyzed. Cohen’s kappa statistics were used to estimate the agreement between the diagnoses made by CL psychiatrist and the diagnoses considered by the referring doctors. The analyses covered 18,888 referrals. The most common referral reason was suspicion of depression (n = 4937; 32.3%), followed by agitation (n = 1534; 10.0%). Psychiatric diagnoses were established for 13,883 (73.8%) referrals. Fair agreement was found for depressive disorders (kappa = 0.281) and for delirium (kappa = 0.342), which increased for anxiety comorbid depression (kappa = 0.305) and hyperkinetic delirium (kappa = 0.504). Moderate agreement was found for alcohol or substance abuse (kappa = 0.574). Referring doctors correctly recognized psychiatric conditions due to their exogenous etiology or clear clinical signs; in addition, the presence of positive symptoms (such as panic or agitation) increased diagnostic concordance. Close daily collaboration between CL psychiatrists and GH doctors lead to improvements in the ability to properly detect comorbid psychiatric conditions.

Download Full-text

Consultation–Liaison Psychiatry Activities in a Renal Transplant Unit

Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics ◽

10.1159/000287383 ◽

1979 ◽

Vol 32 (1-4) ◽

pp. 157-163 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hellmuth Freyberger ◽

Marianne Ludwig ◽

Marlene Mangels ◽

Peter Neuhaus

Keyword(s):

Renal Transplant ◽

Liaison Psychiatry ◽

Consultation Liaison Psychiatry

Download Full-text

Adaptations made to pediatric consultation-liaison psychiatry service delivery during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic: A North American multi-site survey

Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.jaclp.2021.05.003 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Khyati Brahmbhatt ◽

Annabelle M. Mournet ◽

Nasuh Malas ◽

Claire DeSouza ◽

Jeanne Greenblatt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Service Delivery ◽

North American ◽

Liaison Psychiatry ◽

Site Survey ◽

Consultation Liaison Psychiatry ◽

Pediatric Consultation

Download Full-text

XIV Annual Meeting of the European Association for Consultation Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatics (EACLPP)

Journal of Psychosomatic Research ◽

10.1016/j.jpsychores.2011.03.006 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 70 (6) ◽

pp. 580-623 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

Annual Meeting ◽

European Association ◽

Liaison Psychiatry ◽

Consultation Liaison Psychiatry

Download Full-text

Consultation liaison psychiatry in Talavera's hospital during the year 2014

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/j.eurpsy.2016.01.1417 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 33 (S1) ◽

pp. S394-S394

Author(s):

M. Palomo Monge ◽

D.C. Sandra ◽

A.L. Maria Fernanda ◽

G.M. David ◽

T.G. Maria Fernanda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Internal Medicine ◽

Psychiatric Disorders ◽

Descriptive Study ◽

Liaison Psychiatry ◽

Consultation Service ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Consultation Liaison Psychiatry ◽

Competing Interest

IntroductionAnalyze the number of interdepartmental consultations carried out at Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Nuestra Señora del Prado from other areas of hospitalization during 2014.ObjectivesThe goal is to evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in patients who are hospitalized for other reasons, and which services are needed the most.MethodsRetrospective cross-sectional descriptive study. A record of consultations carried out by the psychiatry service in 2014 was collected. The data were analyzed according to the origin of the consultation service, the month when it was performed and the sex of the patient. The monthly percentage of interconsultations and the percentage represented by each interconsultation service were calculated. They classified according to sex.ResultsIn 2014, 211 interconsultations were carried out, 104 men and 86 women. Surgery 16, 11%, pneumology 13, 74%, internal medicine 12, 32%, traumatology 8, 06%, digestive 7, 11%), I.C.U. 6, 64%, cardiology 6, 16%, hematology 5, 69%, oncology 5, 21%, pediatrics 4, 27%, gynecology 2, 84%, emergency 1, 90%, palliative1, 90%, endocrinology 1, 42%, urology 1, 42, nephrology 0, 95%, E.N.T. 0, 95%, obstetrics 0, 47%, dermatology 0%, ophthalmology 0%, rheumatology 0%. January 12, 8%, February 13%, March 9, 5%, April 6, 2%, May 5, 7%, June 8, 1%, July 6, 2%, August 4, 3%, September 8, 1%, October 12%, November 7, 6%, December 6, 2%.ConclusionsMost of the interconsultations were carried out in January, February and October. However, August was the least busy month. The busiest service was the Surgery service, followed by the Pneumology and Internal Medicine one. There were no interconsultations of the Ophthalmology, Rheumatology and Dermatology services. The consults were in demand mainly by men rather than women.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

Download Full-text