Clinico-psycho-social profile of patients brought under consultation-liaison psychiatry care in a large tertiary care referral hospital

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to access the clinico-psycho-social profile of patients brought under consultation-liaison (CL) psychiatry care in a large tertiary care referral hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included all patients who were referred for CL psychiatry from among the inpatients in the hospital and the emergency department (during off working hours of the hospital) over a period of 1 year. Data were obtained and analyzed in terms of where was the referral placed, by whom, the reason for placing the referral, the primary medical/surgical diagnosis of the patient, the presenting complaints, any past psychiatric history, the psychiatric diagnosis (as per the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Edition), the investigations advised and their reports, the treatment advised (psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological), the sociodemographic profile of the patients, and the follow-up details. RESULTS: A total of 157 patients were referred to the CL unit over the study period. Out of these, 125 patients were referred among the inpatients and 32 from the emergency department of the hospital. Majority of the patients were in the age group of 25–50 years and were male. The majority of the referrals were made by general physician; most of the referrals were placed from emergency department. The most common reason for referral was for altered sensorium and behavioral abnormalities. The most common diagnosis was delirium followed by depressive episode and alcohol dependence syndrome. CONCLUSION: There was higher representation of delirium and alcohol-related cases in our study compared to older studies.