The attitude and perception of hospital doctors about the management of psychiatric disorders.

OBJECTIVE

To determine perception and the attitude of non-psychiatric doctors about psychiatric problems working in a tertiary care hospital.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY

Postgraduate Medical Institute, Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. The questionnaires distributed were returned within one week duration.

SUBJECT AND METHODS

All the doctors working in Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar for more than one year except house officers and those working in Paediatrics, Radiology and Administration Block were given anonymous questionnaires.

RESULTS

Two hundred and ten doctors returned the questionnaires. One hundred and eighty-three (87 %) of respondents were male. Ninty-eight percent of doctors agreed that psychological factors were important in the cause and outcome of physical disorders but only 26.7 % agreed that management of emotional issues is medical responsibility. There was no statistically significant difference between physicians and surgeons in their attitude towards importance of psychological factors in the physical disorders.

CONCLUSION

Doctors working in tertiary care hospital have adequate awareness about the psychological and emotional factors in medical and surgical patients. However, some barriers against the provision of bio-psychosocial care seem to be present.