FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF TREATMENT IN LIAISON PSYCHIATRY. A CENTRE-BASED STUDY

Objective: To determine the effect of age, gender, socioeconomic status and comorbid conditions on the choice of treatment in liaison psychiatry. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study in which data were collected from the cases referred to the department of Psychiatry and behavioural sciences for liaison-consultation. To use the data in the research, permission was sought from the Medical Director of the Hayatabad Medical Complex. Ethical Approval was obtained from the ethical committee of Hayatabad Medical Complex. Data of 202 cases referred between 1st June 2017 till 31st may 2018 was included in the study. Data was collected on a semi-structured proforma. Incomplete records were excluded from the study. SSPS 20 was used for data analysis. Quantitative variables were analyzed by calculating the mean with the standard deviation. Qualitative variable analysis was done by the chi-square test. Results: In this study mean age of patients was 26.27 years with a standard deviation of 10.56. 48.5% of patients were male, while 51.5% of patients were female. Major depressive disorder was the most common psychiatric disorder in the referred patients. Hypertension and its complications were the most common physical comorbidity. Sertraline was the most commonly used antidepressant while olanzapine was a commonly used antipsychotic. Conclusion: This study shows that physical comorbidity was the most important factor effecting choice of treatment in liaison psychiatry.