Assessment of the Frequency of Psychiatric Comorbidity Among Dental OPD Patients and the Function of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry in Dental Treatment in a Kanpur Rural Tertiary Care Facility, India

Background: Comorbidities of psychiatric disorders and somatic illnesses have been the focus of increasing concern in recent decades. Aim: The aim was to determine the application of consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry for systematic patient management in a rural tertiary care facility. Settings and design: This cross-sectional descriptive research was carried out in a dental college multispecialty tertiary care facility located in a rural area. Subjects and Methods: The cross-sectional descriptive research study included 181 patients aged 18–60 years who attended the dental OPD. They were randomly selected, and each consecutive patient was referred to the Psychiatry Department for evaluation. Psychiatric comorbidity was evaluated by a psychiatrist with the aid of the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)-28 and the Mental State Examination. Statistical analysis used: The data were statistically analyzed using crosstab and χ2 test. Results:Most patients were female (n=107). The mean age of patients was 42 years, and the GHQ-28 score was high for anxiety/insomnia, with a mean of 3.01. The commonest dental illness was periodontitis (14.9%) followed by dental caries (13.2%). Majority (79%) of the patients had psychiatric comorbidity according to the GHQ-28 total score. A total of 115 patients were diagnosed to have mental disorders on Mental State Examination. Somatoform disorder (n=34) and very strong associations were found among the types of dental illnesses and the types of mental disorders (χ2=37.89 and 98.64, respectively; p<0.05). Conclusions: Psychiatric C-L in dentistry is still at its grassroot level in India. A psychiatric C-L service within the dental facility catering to patients with psychiatric disorders in dental practice could be developed and effectively managed.