Alhuthail Yaser R
Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine and King Khaled University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Tel. +966 (1) 4671924. Fax. +966 (1) 4672571. E-mail:
Neurosciences (Riyadh). 2008 Apr;13(2):161-4.
To examine factors affecting the length of hospital stay (LOS) of patients referred to psychiatric consultation liaison (C-L) services.
The study sample prospectively included all the referrals in 2004 to the C-L psychiatry unit at King Khaled University Hospital in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The following factors were documented for each consultation: patient demographic characteristics, dates of admission, consultation, and discharge, and total days of stay, medical specialty service requesting the consultation, reason for referral given by the referring physician, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV diagnosis, based on the consultation interview.
The total number of referrals was 264. The LOS showed positive correlation with referral time (p=0.0001) accounting for 22% of the variance in LOS. Surgical ward admission and diagnosis of delirium predicted longer LOS, while obstetric/gynecology ward admission, diagnosis of anxiety, and diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder predicted shorter LOS.
The direct correlation between the timing of referral and LOS reinforces that it is important for medical professionals to identify and detect patients who require early psychiatric intervention. Ways of detecting high-risk patients are discussed.
研究影响精神科会诊联络（C-L）服务患者住院时间（LOS）的因素。
研究样本前瞻性纳入了2004年沙特阿拉伯王国利雅得市哈立德国王大学医院C-L精神科接收的所有会诊病例。记录每次会诊的以下因素：患者人口统计学特征、入院日期、会诊日期、出院日期和住院总天数、申请会诊的医学专科服务、转诊医生给出的转诊原因以及基于会诊访谈得出的《精神疾病诊断与统计手册》（DSM-IV）诊断结果。
转诊病例总数为264例。住院时间与转诊时间呈正相关（p = 0.0001），解释了住院时间22%的变异。外科病房入院和谵妄诊断预示住院时间更长，而产科/妇科病房入院、焦虑症诊断和双相情感障碍诊断预示住院时间更短。
转诊时间与住院时间的直接相关性强化了医疗专业人员识别和检测需要早期精神科干预患者的重要性。文中讨论了检测高危患者的方法。
