Is Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry ‘Getting Old’? How Psychiatry Referrals in the General Hospital Have Changed over 20 Years

Silvia Ferrari, Giorgio Mattei, Mattia Marchi, Gian Maria Galeazzi and Luca Pingani
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Silvia Ferrari: Department of Biomedical, Metabolic Sciences and Neurosciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via del Pozzo 71, 41124 Modena, Italy
Giorgio Mattei: Department of Biomedical, Metabolic Sciences and Neurosciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via del Pozzo 71, 41124 Modena, Italy
Mattia Marchi: Department of Biomedical, Metabolic Sciences and Neurosciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via del Pozzo 71, 41124 Modena, Italy
Gian Maria Galeazzi: Department of Biomedical, Metabolic Sciences and Neurosciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via del Pozzo 71, 41124 Modena, Italy
Luca Pingani: Department of Biomedical, Metabolic Sciences and Neurosciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Via del Pozzo 71, 41124 Modena, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 20, 1-20

Abstract: There is an ever-growing awareness of the health-related special needs of older patients, and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Services (CLPS) are significantly involved in providing such age-friendly hospital care. CLPS perform psychiatric assessment for hospitalized patients with suspected medical-psychiatric comorbidity and support ward teams in a bio-psycho-social oriented care management. Changes in features of the population referred to a CLPS over a 20-year course were analysed and discussed, especially comparing older and younger referred subjects. Epidemiological and clinical data from all first psychiatric consultations carried out at the Modena (North of Italy) University Hospital CLPS in the period 2000–2019 ( N = 19,278) were included; two groups of consultations were created according to the age of patients: OV65 (consultations for patients older than 64 years) and NONOV65 (all the rest of consultations). Consultations for OV65 were about 38.9% of the total assessments performed, with an average of approximately 375 per year, vs. the 589 performed for NOV65. The number of referrals for older patients significantly increased over the 20 years. The mean age and the male/female ratio of the sample changed significantly across the years in the whole sample as well as both among OV65 and NOV65. Urgent referrals were more frequent among NOV65 and the rate between urgent/non urgent referrals changed differently in the two subgroups. The analysis outlined recurring patterns that should guide future clinical, training and research activities.

Keywords: consultation-liaison psychiatry; elderly; psycho-geriatrics; general hospital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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