Liaison psychiatry: experience of the University Hospital of Oran

Introduction : Liaison psychiatry is one of the newest branches of psychiatry. It deals with psychiatric disorders that appear in patients from other medical or surgical disciplines. This study aims to evaluate the liaison psychiatry activity at the psychiatric emergency department of the University Hospital of Oran and thus to establish a profile of the patients observed in this context, to know the different types of somatic diseases at the origin of psychiatric disorders and diagnosed psychiatric disorders. Material and method : This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. It took place over a time period of one year, from March 2018 to April 2019. The study population represents patients seen as part of liaison psychiatry. The sample size is 145 patients. Results : Among the reasons for requesting a psychiatric consultation are agitation, anxious symptoms and depressive symptoms which were the most reported ones. They represented respectively 22.9%, 19.3% and 15.2% of the reasons for consultation. The most diagnosed psychiatric disorders were major depressive disorder, almost a third of cases (31.7% of cases), followed by confusional state (19.3% of cases), and adaptation disorder (11.7% of cases). Moreover, in 6.2% of cases the psychiatric examination was normal. Cancer, infectious, metabolic and endocrine diseases were the most frequent somatic diseases at the origin of requests for psychiatric consultations. They represented respectively 16.6%, 15.9% and 15.2% of the cases. Conclusion : Hospitalized persons in the general hospital may develop psychiatric disorders that are secondary to the psychological impact of their illnesses or to its direct biological effect on the brain. In this case care is multidisciplinary and the intervention of the psychiatrist for the treatment of psychiatric disorders is essential.