Abstract
Objective: Psychiatric and medical conditions tend to co-occur, with each potentially complicating the course and treatment outcome of the other. However, the data regarding psychiatric co-morbidity among medical patients in Saudi Arabia is scarce. This study was designed to assess the prevalence and patterns of psychiatric co-morbidity in adult medical inpatients and to look at the rates of various psychiatric disorders by type of medical illness.
Design: Cross-sectional observational study
Settings: The King Khalid Hospital Majmaah and the Zulfi General Hospital from November 2016 to February 2017
Subjects: This study was conducted among 400 medical inpatients that were selected by convenience sampling
Interventions: The General Health Questionnaire was administered as a screening tool to identify "cases". All other participants were considered "non-cases". The identified cases then had the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Plus and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale questionnaires administered.
Main outcome measure(s): The prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the sample was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23 software.
Results: Psychiatric disorders were present in 28% of the included medical inpatients. In general, chronic diseases were associated with higher psychiatric co-morbidity.
Conclusions: Psychiatric disorders are prevalent among medical inpatients. Identifying psychiatric disorders among in-patients is important because appropriate treatment can improve treatment outcomes for the co-morbid medical illness.