Althubaiti Norah, Ghamri Ranya
Obstetrics and Gynecology, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.
Family Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SAU.
Cureus. 2019 May 25;11(5):e4755. doi: 10.7759/cureus.4755.
Objective This study aimed to determine the proportion of family physicians referring patients to psychiatrists and conducting psychotherapy or mental health consultations themselves. Additionally, the factors affecting family physicians' approaches to dealing with mental health patients were investigated, including referrals to psychiatrists and physicians' views about better management plans for patients with mental health disorders. Method In this cross-sectional observational study, online surveys were distributed, using Google forms, to family physicians in primary healthcare centers and hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The participants were 175 family physicians. A previously developed survey under the name "collaboration between psychologists and primary health care physicians" was adapted to suit the purposes of the present study, by changing the aim of the survey from psychologists to family physicians. Results Physicians who received inter-professional training in a clinical training program were more likely to agree that their education prepared them well for collaboration with psychiatrists, compared to those who did not receive such an education (p<0.001). The younger and less experienced physicians were more likely to carry out psychotherapy and mental health consultations by themselves more often than were the more experienced physicians (33.1% versus 9.7%; p<0.001), it has also been shown that almost 90% of physicians agreed that collaboration with psychiatrists is necessary for the care of their patients, and only a third responded that psychiatrists were accessible if and when they want to consult with them. Conclusions Family and primary care physicians must collaborate with psychiatric professionals in order to provide effective services. Moreover, family physicians should receive more education about mental health, and effective communication should be encouraged in order to deliver better care to psychiatric patients in primary healthcare settings.
目的 本研究旨在确定将患者转诊给精神科医生以及自行开展心理治疗或心理健康咨询的家庭医生的比例。此外，还调查了影响家庭医生处理心理健康患者方式的因素，包括转诊给精神科医生以及医生对心理健康障碍患者更好管理计划的看法。方法 在这项横断面观察性研究中，通过谷歌表单向沙特阿拉伯吉达市初级医疗中心和医院的家庭医生进行了在线调查。参与者为175名家庭医生。一项先前开发的名为“心理学家与初级医疗保健医生之间的合作”的调查进行了调整，以适应本研究的目的，即将调查对象从心理学家改为家庭医生。结果 与未接受过此类教育的医生相比，在临床培训项目中接受过跨专业培训的医生更有可能认同他们所接受的教育使他们为与精神科医生合作做好了充分准备（p<0.001）。年轻且经验不足的医生比经验更丰富的医生更有可能更频繁地自行开展心理治疗和心理健康咨询（33.1% 对 9.7%；p<0.001），研究还表明，近90%的医生认同与精神科医生合作对于照顾他们的患者是必要的，只有三分之一的医生表示当他们想要咨询精神科医生时能够找到他们。结论 家庭医生和初级保健医生必须与精神科专业人员合作，以提供有效的服务。此外，家庭医生应接受更多关于心理健康的教育，并应鼓励进行有效的沟通，以便在初级医疗保健环境中为精神科患者提供更好的护理。
