The recognition of psychiatric morbidity on a medical oncology ward

The Generalised Health Questionnaire and Standardised Psychiatric Interview were used to determine psychiatric morbidity among 126 patients consecutively admitted to a medical oncology unit. Senior house officers and nurses also rated anxiety and depression. 36 (29%) patients were psychiatrically il...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of psychosomatic research 1989, Vol.33 (2), p.235-239
Main Authors: Hardman, Anthony, Maguire, Peter, Crowther, Derek
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anxiety Disorders - diagnosis
Biological and medical sciences
Depressive Disorder - diagnosis
Female
General aspects
Hospital Units
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Mental Disorders - complications
Mental Disorders - diagnosis
Middle Aged
Neoplasms - complications
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Referral and Consultation
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Summary:The Generalised Health Questionnaire and Standardised Psychiatric Interview were used to determine psychiatric morbidity among 126 patients consecutively admitted to a medical oncology unit. Senior house officers and nurses also rated anxiety and depression. 36 (29%) patients were psychiatrically ill and affective disorders (29, 23%) predominated. Psychiatric morbidity was associated with feeling moderately or severely physically ill, and previous psychiatric illness, but not with awareness of having cancer or lack of a confiding tie. The General Health Questionnaire identified 79% of affective disorders at the cost of a 34% false positive rate. Doctors and nurses recognised only 49% of the depressed group; more of those with morbid anxiety (79%) were identified but only because they assumed most patients were anxious. Training in interviewing skills could substantially improve the identification and referral rates of patients with psychiatric morbidity.
ISSN:0022-3999
1879-1360
DOI:10.1016/0022-3999(89)90051-2