Factors Associated With Psychiatry Consultation for Musculoskeletal Trauma Patients

In an online, survey-based experiment, musculoskeletal surgeon members of the science of variation group (n = 243) and a group of consult-liaison psychiatrists (n = 18) read 5 hypothetical scenarios of patients recovering from musculoskeletal trauma, each containing 5 randomized patient variables, and indicated their recommendation for psychiatry consultation or not. Factors associated with recommendation for psychiatry consultation included younger age, history of a psychiatric disorder, and pre-injury use of antipsychotic medications, and scenarios involving psychosis, suicidality, hallucinations in the setting of substance withdrawal, and questionable capacity for informed consent, but not with sadness alone. Musculoskeletal surgeons can collaborate with psychiatrists to develop comprehensive care for inpatients with musculoskeletal trauma starting with relatively pressing mental health needs and perhaps expanding into treatment of sadness or worry that can manifest as greater symptom intensity and a delayed recovery trajectory.