Evaluation of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Consultations in A University Hospital

Consultation-liaison services provided by the child psychiatry department of a university hospital over a twelve-month period were evaluated in this study. Consultations requested from the department of child and adolescent psychiatry by the other clinics in the Eski？ehir Osmangazi University, Faculty of Medicine between September 2017 and August 2018 were retrospectively screened. The data about which units demanded consultation; consultation reasons, patients’ physical and mental diagnoses, psychiatric treatments and follow-up period were investigated. Psychiatric consultation was requested for 146 children within a twelve-month period. Psychiatry consultations were requested from 0.08% of the cases who referred to the outpatient clinics of pediatric emergency, and 1,6% of the inpatients aged less than18 years. 55,5% of consulted patients were males and 69,2% of them were at the age of 12 or older. The most frequent reason for consultation was suicidal attempt (22.6%). The most frequent psychiatric diagnoses was depressive disorder (16,4%). Psychotropic medications were prescribed for 28,1 % of cases. 82 (75,2%) of 109 patients who were referred to the outpatient treatment were admitted to child psychiatry outpatient clinic. This study reveals that psychiatric disorders are frequently seen in patients with physical diseases, however the consultation request？ng ratio was found low. This suggests that the physicians who are working in non-psychiatric areas are having difficulty understanding and evaluating the psychiatric symptoms in children. Therefore, the importance of enhancing cooperation between child and adolescent psychiatry and other specialties has been emphasized