Consultation-liaison psychiatry in a tertiary general hospital in Saudi Arabia: a retrospective analysis

Abstract Introduction Consultation liaison psychiatry (CLP) plays a crucial role in recognizing and managing psychiatric comorbidities in medically ill patients. This study aims to explore the profile of patients referred to CLP services, reasons for referral, and psychiatric diagnoses within a tertiary care hospital setting to evaluate the contribution of CLP in promoting better integration of psychiatric care into general medical practice. Methods This cross-sectional study was carried out at King Abdulaziz Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia, examining 1,230 patient referrals to the Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) unit. Collected data included patients’ demographic details, sources and reasons for referral, psychiatric diagnoses based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision (ICD-10), as well as the clinical management plans provided. Results Most referred patients were older than 66 years (38.5%), with an almost equal gender distribution: 49% male and 51% female. Saudi nationals represented 89.6% of the cases. Additionally, 22.1% of the patients had a history of psychiatric conditions. The bulk of referrals came from internal medicine (35.9%), followed by general surgery (12%). The primary reason for referral was requesting psychiatric assessment (22.3%), with medication reviews (17.5%) and sleep disturbances (16.2%) also being common reasons. Delirium was the most frequent psychiatric diagnosis (31.7%). More than half of the patients (53.2%) were prescribed new psychiatric medications, while 24.7% were managed without pharmacological intervention. Conclusion The study highlights the high prevalence of delirium in hospitalized patients, emphasizing the need for early psychiatric screening and interdisciplinary collaboration. Future multi-center studies should explore long-term impacts and optimize CLP models.