[Liaison psychiatry in two public hospitals of Santiago]

Medical and surgical teams consult psychiatrists when abnormal behavior or psychopathological traits are observed in their patients.

To describe the experience of liaison psychiatry teams in public hospitals.

Analysis of 128 consultations, involving 110 patients. Eighty eight patients were subjected to the structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders--Patient Edition, the Mini Mental State score and to a search for personality disorders.

The most commonly consulted problems were depression in 44 patients, substance abuse in 29 and suicidal behavior in 21. The psychiatric study detected that 8% of patients were asymptomatic, 8% had stress reactions, 16.5% had substance abuse, 14.6% had alcohol abuse, 11% had a major depression, 10% had delirium or dementia, 9% had anxiety disorders, 4% schizophrenia, 18% personality disorders and 19% had suicidal behaviors.

Psychiatric consultations in medical and surgical services are common and have a wide variety of severity.