A descriptive study of a unique multi-ethnic consultation-liaison psychiatry service in Honolulu, Hawaii

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Healthcare Services Research

Background:

• The Consultation-Liaison (CL) Psychiatry service at a major medical center in Honolulu, Hawaii, serves a unique patient population.
• Previous assumptions suggested differing demographic trends, an increase in elderly and substance-abusing patients, and rising consultation requests related to these issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To descriptively characterize the CL Psychiatry service at a major medical center in Honolulu, Hawaii.
• To investigate demographic trends, prevalence of elderly and substance-abusing patients, and consultation request patterns over time.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective analysis of 180 randomly selected patient records requesting inpatient psychiatric consultation.
• Data was collected during identical 3-month periods in 2000 and 2005.
• Descriptive statistics, chi-square, and ANOVA were used for analysis.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in age, referral reason, or diagnoses between 2000 and 2005.
• Patients aged 65+ comprised 16.6% of consults.
• Caucasians (45.6%) were overrepresented compared to population prevalence, while Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Japanese, Filipino, and other Asian groups formed the majority of the remaining patients.
• Top reasons for consultation included depression/anxiety (27.4%), alcohol/drugs (21.8%), and agitation/psychosis (20.5%).
• Leading diagnoses were substance use (32.5%), mood disorders (16%), and cognitive disorders (14.1%).

Conclusions:

• The patient demographic data reflects a unique population served by the Queen's Medical Center (QMC) CL service.
• Consultation processes, diagnoses, and treatments align with trends observed in mainland counterparts.
• No significant changes in trends were observed over the study period.