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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| A comparison of psychiatric consultation between geriatric and non-geriatric medical inpatients | | Author(s) | Sarah E Schellhorn, John W Barnhill, Valentine Raiteri |
| Journal title | International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol 24, no 10, October 2009 |
| Pages | pp 1054-1061 |
| Source | http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/gps |
| Keywords | Psychogeriatric patients ; In-patients ; Medical wards ; Referrals ; Psychiatrists ; Psychiatric treatment ; Comparison ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | The authors examine changes in psychiatric referral patterns for geriatric inpatients since last reported in the United States, more than 20 years ago, and compare geriatric psychiatric referrals to those of a non-geriatric cohort. Their retrospective study compared psychiatric diagnosis, treatment and aftercare of 474 younger (ages 18-60 years) and 487 older (aged 60+) patients seen in psychiatric consultation in a large, urban, university-based tertiary care hospital setting. Compared to previous reports in the literature, this cohort contains a notably higher percentage of the old-old (>80 years), reflecting the general ageing of those who are hospitalised. Compared to younger patients, geriatric inpatients were more commonly referred for psychiatric consultation, but overall rates of referral remain low (<4%). Geriatric patients were diagnosed with dementia and delirium more frequently; with substance dependence less frequently; and were just as likely to be diagnosed with depression. Geriatric patients were also more likely to receive atypical antipsychotic medications and less likely to receive benzodiazepines than younger patients. In patients diagnosed with depression, psychiatric follow-up is more likely relegated to outpatient geriatricians and nursing homes. Consulting psychiatrists frequently encounter geriatric patients and, given patterns of diagnosis and aftercare, should play a major role in medical staff education and in development of enhanced in-hospital and aftercare services, including psychiatric liaison. (KJ/RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-100109209 A |
| Classmark | LF:E: LF7: LD4: L5R: QT9: LP: 48: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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