The psychotic patient at the General Hospital

Abstract

Background

Patients with schizophrenia have a higher prevalence of physical illness and a higher mortality from natural causes than the general population, which is a reason why they can be hospitalized for medical and surgical pathologies.

Aims

To determine the demand, the reason for consultation and the sociodemographic characteristics of the psychotic patient admitted at the general hospital.

Methods

Sociodemographic variables (age, sex, marital status, education, place of residence, residential housing, with who they live, work status) and health care (service of origin, type of request and its relevance, complaints, days of delay between the request and assistance, number of visits, average length of stay).

Study design

Prospective epidemiological study of 80 psychotic patients (F.2 ICD-10), from the total of 906 consults solicited from 1 January 2012 until 31 December 2014. Bioethical considerations: compliance with these principles justice, non-maleficence, autonomy and beneficence.

Results

The average age is 58.34 years old, 60% were male, 73.8% single, 81.3% with primary education, 52.5% living in urban areas; and the 88.8% of cases were pensioners. The Departments that generate a greater demand are Internal Medicine (53.8%), Orthopaedic Surgery (10%), Pneumology (8.8%) and ICU (8.8%). The most frequent reasons for consultation are assessment/treatment setting (77.5%), abnormal behavior (30%), disorientation (18.8%) and psychotic symptoms (18.8%).

Conclusions

The typical profile of psychotic patients hospitalized for medical-surgical diseases is a male, middle-aged, single, with primary education and pensioner; from whom it's sued consultation for adjusting of treatment, and secondly for abnormal behavior.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.