Commonly diagnosed mental disorders in a general hospital system

Background Considering many patients receive care from general hospitals, these healthcare institutions are uniquely situated to address mental and physical health needs. Little is documented, however, on the common current mental disorders diagnosed in patients receiving care in general hospital settings, especially in Puerto Rico. The objective of this study was to characterize the five most common current DSM-5 mental disorder diagnoses made in patients receiving non-psychiatric medical and surgical care from a general hospital system in southern Puerto Rico between January 2015 and December 2019. Methods Our clinical health psychology team provides integrated psychology consultation-liaison services to select clinical units in general hospitals across the southwestern region of Puerto Rico. The clinical team conducted routine standardized psychological evaluations at patients' bedside, arrived at a current DSM-5 diagnosis if warranted, and documented the diagnosis and other select variables. A retrospective study of cross-sectional data generated from the clinical team’s standardized evaluations of 5494 medical patients was implemented. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to assess the odds of being diagnosed with a current DSM-5 mental disorder during hospitalization. Results Overall, 53% of the entire sample was diagnosed with a mental disorder during hospitalization. Major depressive, neurocognitive, anxiety, substance-related and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders were the most frequently diagnosed. Interestingly, females were 23% less likely to have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder than males (aOR: 0.769, CI [0.650, 0.909], p = 0.002). This is to say males evidenced 1.30 higher odds of being diagnosed with depression compared to their female counterpart. Age, biological sex, civil status, employment status, monthly household income, previous mental disorder and history substance use/abuse history was differentially associated with receiving a current DSM-5 disorder. Conclusion The integration of clinical health psychology services within a general hospital facilitated our team’s work of identifying and treating co-occurring mental disorders among hospitalized patients receiving medical and surgical care. Future studies examining the opportunities and barriers of integrating clinical health psychology services within a general hospital’s administrative and clinical infrastructure for rapid identification and treatment of co-occurring mental disorders among medical patients is encouraged.

Commonly Diagnosed Mental Disorders in a General Hospital System

Background: Considering many patients seek care from general hospitals, these healthcare institutions are uniquely situated to address comorbid mental and physical health needs. Little is documented, however, on the most common mental disorders in patients seeking care in general hospital settings, especially in Puerto Rico. The objective of this study was to characterize the five most common DSM-5 mental disorder diagnoses made in a hospital system in southern Puerto Rico between January 2015 and December 2019. Methods: A retrospective study of cross-sectional data obtained from 5,494 inpatients was implemented and a multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the odds of being diagnosed with a current mental disorder.Results: Overall, 53% of the entire sample was diagnosed with a mental disorder during hospitalization. Major depressive, neurocognitive, anxiety, substance-related and schizophrenia-spectrum disorders were the most frequently diagnosed. Interestingly, females were 23% less likely to have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder than males (aOR: .769, CI [.650, .909], p = .002). Thus, males evidenced 1.30 higher odds of being diagnosed with depression. Conclusion: The integration of clinical health psychology services within a general hospital facilitated our team’s work of identifying and treating co-occurring mental disorders among hospitalized patients. Future studies examining the opportunities and barriers of integrating clinical health psychology services within a general hospital’s administrative and clinical infrastructure for rapid identification and treatment of co-occurring mental disorders among medical patients are warranted.

Psychological Treatment of Medical Patients Struggling with Harmful Substance Use

As part of the Clinical Health Psychology Series, Psychological Treatment of Medical Patients Struggling with Harmful Substance Use is a comprehensive yet concise book that explains the neurobiology of addiction and offers clear guidance on how to spot and treat it.